Threads of Destiny
by hellfire15
Summary: Your daily dose of Ash and May , Dawn and Paul , and Pikachu and Buneary vs Glaceon Love Triangle. Join them on their adventure full of mishaps, hatred, romance, and other whatnots.
1. Chapter 1: Reunion

The sun was shining brightly throughout the Sinnoh region, as it meant another adventure for our young heroes. As the radiant sunlight passed through the closed glass windows and passing through a light curtain in the room the gang was sleeping in.

Immediately, a tall man with spiky brown hair quickly woke up and raised his body in a sitting position as he rubbed his eyes before leaving his bed.

Then, a young male with messy black hair rose up from his sleep as he stretched his arms wide and gave out a big yawn. His trusted pokemon also woke up and stretched his limbs and also gave out a yawn.

He looked around the room and quickly saw his best friend changing his pajamas to his usual wear every day.

"So today's the day, right Brock?"

His tall friend finished removing his pajamas and put on his dark green shirt and his khaki-brown vest.

"Heh, you're right."

Brock replied as he put his dark khaki pants up his legs followed by his shoes. Then he went towards a mirror and began fixing his hair.

"You better get changed Ash, before you wake up Dawn."

Ash nodded as he walked towards the restroom while scratching the back of his head. Pikachu then jumped to his pillow and curled himself as he went back to sleep.

Ash closed the door slowly so that Dawn won't wake up. Brock finished combing his hair and proceeded to Dawn's bed to wake her up.

"Psst, Dawn, wake up."

Brock tapped her shoulders a bit as she turned and covered her face with her blanket.

"Five more minutes, Mom…" Dawn mumbled as she turned to the other side.

"May is coming back…" Brock went closer and whispered to her ear.

The blue-haired girl wearing yellow pajamas quickly jumped out from her bed and was surprised, she remembered that their friend called them that she was coming back to Sinnoh, and that was today.

She quickly ran towards the mirror and shrieked as she saw her hair standing at every direction.

"Oh man, not another bad hair day…" She sighed as she began combing her long blue hair thoroughly and vigorously.

"My hair needs some water." Dawn walked towards the restroom door while combing her bangs.

"Hey, Dawn –" Brock quickly realized Ash was inside the restroom and tried to stop Dawn from entering the restroom.

She twisted the knob, causing the door to open and went inside.

Her eyes quickly widened in surprise as she saw a half-naked Ash about to remove his underwear.

"AAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"

----------

The three waited eagerly for the return of their friend for another visit to Sinnoh, well, except for the two of them, Ash and Dawn.

"What did I do to deserve this…" Ash mumbled to himself as he rubbed his cheek that had a big red hand mark present on it.

Pikachu also helped rubbing his swollen cheek with his paws as he stood at his shoulders, trying to comfort his trainer.

"Well, if you only locked the door in the first place, nothing of this would have happened." Dawn replied as she was now wearing her usual get-up. A white bonnet with a pink pokeball design on the side, a black sleeveless shirt and white undershirt underneath. Her pink mini skirt and matching boots that reached below her knees.

But instead of their faces happy and eager as they await for the arrival of May, Ash's face became miserable while Dawn's face was red and about to explode as she crossed her arms in anger.

"Really guys, it's early in the morning. It's just an accident…" Brock tried to comfort the two as he patted their shoulders.

"Yeah, you're right… May doesn't like it when she sees us angry with each other rather than be happy at her arrival."

Dawn went towards Ash and raised her hand. Ash stared at this for a short while before shaking hands with her.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's put the past behind us."

Ash said with a smile as they shook hands together. Pikachu cheered while Brock smiled and put his hands on his waist as they watched the two forgave each other.

"Just remember to lock the door next time, okay?"

"Will do, and no more slaps to the face."

Both of them shared a laugh as they released the handshake.

"BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!"

The gang was shocked by a loud horn sound that came from the sea as they by the pier of a small town the locals would call Coralgreen town.

The coral represents the blue seas that gave a beautiful and calm view from the harbor they were at, and the green represents the vast forest covering the entire town.

There they await an approaching boat that maybe where their good old friend, May was aboard.

"Hey Ash, Dawn, and Brock!"

Yep, it's her all right as the gang looked at May who was waving at them at the deck of the large ship called S.S. Chatot.

She wore a green bandana on her head as her brunette hair swayed magnificently by the wind. She wore a sleeveless orange shirt that reached to her thighs, with her green fanny pack now acting as a belt and still had her white mini-skirt and black shorts back in their Hoenn adventures along with matching sneakers in her new outfit.

And along with her was a small blue fox pokemon who was also very happy to see them again.

"Pika, Pika!"

Pikachu jumped on top of Ash's head and stood up and waved with both of his arms while trying to maintain balance while calling out to them.

"Glaaee!"

Glaceon noticed this and replied while also waving one of her paw to Pikachu while making a faint blush on her face.

The gang stopped as they all ran towards the port where the boat will stop. Pikachu leapt from Ash's head and proceeded towards the boat ahead while Ash and Dawn ran fast as she held her bonnet with her hand just in case with Brock followed them behind.

Glaceon put her paw back to the floor and looked down, shewas smiling happily as her blush grew bigger.

May noticed Glaceon and knelt down beside her and stroked her head.

"You miss Pikachu, don't you?"

That question quickly surprised her Ice-type pokemon as she gave out a bigger blush on her face as May was getting suspicious and gave her a smile.

"Glaee…"

"You like him don't you?"

Glaceon quickly shook her head as her face was now literally red in embarrassment.

"Don't worry Glaceon, I like Ash as well."

She looked up to her trainer as May began stroking her big pointy ears, comforting her.

"Now that will be our little secret."

May gave her a wink as she carried Glaceon with her and stood up as Glaceon's blush faded away, feeling comfortable in her strong, warm, and caring arms. She knew she can trust May in keeping her crush on Pikachu a secret. The two proceeded to depart from the ship.

The gang made their way towards the crowd who were also excited to see either their family, friend, relative, or even their loved ones.

Pikachu leapt back to Ash's shoulders in order not to get lost nor be trampled by the feet of the huge crowd they were in.

After a few minutes of struggling through the rough yet eager crowd, they made their way in front of a set of rolling portable stairs that connected the door of the ship's hull to the port where streams of passengers departed.

The gang gave a look out for their brunette friend as Pikachu jumped to Ash's head and gave a sharp look to the passengers coming out from the ship.

"Pika! Pikachu!"

Pikachu called out and caught the gang's attention, as he pointed to a passenger that just came out from the ship while they tried to find May to the direction Pikachu was pointing.

"Hey! There's May!"

Ash finally saw May and began waving at her as Dawn and Brock also saw May and waved as well, hoping she would notice them from the huge number of people in the way.

Finally, May saw all of them waving at her as she quickly made her way through the line of other passengers, giving a few bumps and exchanging "sorry" to whoever she bumps into.

"Hey, guys! Great to see you again!"

May finally met with the gang as her face was getting sweaty by the force she had to exert passing through the crowd while the warmth of the crowd really got to her with Glaceon who was now uncomfortable by the constant bumps she also took.

"So how are you guy-"

May was cut short when someone accidentally bumped her from behind.

"Sorry about that, I really should watch where I'm going…"

May and the rest of the gang looked at a man who just bumped her as he had silver hair reaching to his neck, bright crimson eyes, black fitted shirt that clearly revealed his well-toned upper body, dark brown jeans with a black belt and a gold buckle to go along with it, and black hiking boots.

"No, it's okay really…"

"Well okay then, name's Luke by the way. I'll be seeing ya."

The silver-haired man quickly got the message and bowed lightly to the gang as he sped off along with some of the rushing passengers.

"Well, that's fast…"

Ash said as he looked at Luke who was getting farther and farther away, and eventually that silver-haired man vanished in the crowd.

"So guys, why don't we discuss this else where?"

Brock suggested as the gang cheered as they totally agreed with the idea, and followed pace with the huge crowd coming back to town.

Glaceon looked at Pikachu who was still on top of Pikachu's head, but now his belly was lying on his head as he enjoyed the ride on his trainer's head.

She could only stare at Pikachu as memories from the past entered her mind. The day where May first introduced her in her new evolved form to everybody. Although she was excited to be with Pikachu again, it was short lived at the end of the Wallace Cup where she lost to Dawn's Piplup.

She didn't have any time for Pikachu during that trip. She sighed in May's arms but soon a new determination fueled her heart at the beginning of this trip, she was going to tell Pikachu how she really feels.

----

The gang made their way back to town from the harbor. May let her Glaceon on the ground while Ash let Pikachu on the ground also to be reacquainted with each other as they walked ahead of the group as they chatted along, much to Glaceon's delight of course.

"So May, how many ribbons have you won?"

Dawn asked as she got really excited and got closer to her with those sparkly eyes of hers.

"Oh, you'll be surprised to see how many ribbons I've got."

May said with a wink as she opened her green fanny pack that was strapped on her waist and then pulled out a case.

As she opened the case, everyone's eyes widened in surprise, well except for Brock though.

"Wow! Five ribbons already?!"

Dawn shrieked in sheer excitement and surprise as she and the rest of the gang glanced at the five ribbons that were shining magnificently in May's ribbon case.

"Yeah , it was really hard but I finally won my two remaining winnons, thanks to my pokemons of course."

May blushed lightly in embarrassment.

"Man, May, you're really one amazing coordinator."

Ash gave May a thumbs up as she looked at his wide and encouraging smile that made her blush deeper.

"Y-yeah."

"So you're eligible to enter the Johto Grand Festival now, am I right?"

Brock asked her as May closed the ribbon case and placed it back to her fanny pack.

"Yep, but the festival starts in three months from now, so I have a lot of free time training."

May put both of her hands to the back of her head and leaned on it while giving them her usual smile.

"So I went back here to see you guys again, and after the Johto festival will be over, I'll be doing contests here in Sinnoh, so I can start training here."

May added as they continued their way back to the pokemon center.

"Oh yeah I completely forgot, May do you want to see the ribbons I've won?"

Dawn suddenly remembered as she got excited all over again.

"Sure."

May replied as Dawn looked inside her yellow backpack and rummaged through its contents, and then pulled out a case that was similar to May's.

"Wow! That's four ribbons Dawn!"

May was amazed as she stared at the four contest ribbons Dawn had in her ribbon case, including the Aqua ribbon she won by beating her back at the Wallace Cup competition in Lake Valor.

"So you're just one ribbon away to enter the Sinnoh Grand Festival."

"Yeah, I'm so excited."

The girls shared a laugh as they continued to walk. But now, it was May who just remembered something.

"Oh yeah, how many badges have you won Ash?"

May called out to Ash who was ahead of them as he turned to look at her with a wide grin on his face.

"Thought you'd never ask May."

Ash pulled out a silver case that was very slim. He opened it to them causing May to be shocked as she covered her mouth with her hands.

"Wow, seven badges already?! That's amazing Ash! You're also one badge away in entering the Sinnoh League!"

"I know, Dawn and I have been restless lately so we've decided to stay here for a while and train before we head to Sunyshore City."

The gang continued their walk towards the Pokemon center, but Ash noticed a clear open field just near to the center and clearly one thing came to his mind.

"Hey, that's a good spot to train."

He pointed to that field and started to run, the rest of the gang looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders and proceeded to follow them.

"Hey everybody, come on out!"

Ash grabbed all of his pokeballs from his pocket and threw them in the air as each of the balls popped open and revealed his pokemon.

Buizel, Grotle, Gliscor, Staravia and Chimchar yelled out their names and looked at their trainer with a confused look on their faces.

"Okay, guys, time for training, you know the drill!"

Ash instructed them as they understood clearly what he meant and nodded their heads in unison.

Chimchar used a series of Flame Wheel attacks at its partner, Grotle as it practiced in dodging attacks and for it to get used in its new weight since the last time it evolved.

Buizel unleashed a barrage of Water Gun and Sonic Boom attacks at its partner, Staravia who practiced dodging each attack and try to counter attack when there's an opening with either its Aerial Ace or Brave Bird attack while Buizel also tried to intercept it with either its Water Pulse or Aqua Jet.

Pikachu knew right away that it was training session as he told Glaceon that he'll be practicing for a while and sped off to his partner, Gliscor who was waiting for him with its tongue sticking out.

Pikachu and Gliscor pretty much did the same routine with Buizel and Staravia, as Pikachu unleashed a series of Thunderbolts at Gliscor while Gliscor try to dodge every one of them and countered with X-Scissors whenever it got close to Pikachu.

Glaceon felt a little bit heartbroken when Pikachu left her to go train, but still she was doing progress as she went closer to Ash and watched Pikachu train.

Glaceon thought that to get closer with Pikachu, she must first befriend with his trainer Ash, as she rubbed her head against his legs as Ash looked at her and knelt down.

"Hey Glaceon, what's with you today?"

Ash asked her nicely with a confused look on his face as he stroked Glaceon on her head as she cooed in affection.

May and the others caught up with Ash as they looked at the training session Ash planned for his upcoming Gym battle.

"Wow, your pokemon look very determined."

May said as she went closer to Ash and knelt down, and also stroked Glaceon on the back with her soft, and gentle hand.

"Oh yeah, I need to get some training too."

Dawn quickly remembered that she needed some training too for her upcoming contest as she threw her pokeballs to the air, and revealed her five pokemon to the field.

Piplup, Buneary, Pachirisu, Ambipom, and her newly caught pokemon, Swinub yelled out their names.

"Wow, a Swinub, it looks so cute!"

May quickly went closer to Swinub and stared at it closely with a very excited look on her face while Swinub stared at her blankly as she opened her pokedex.

"Swinub, the pig pokemon. This Pokémon is known to use its hardy and reliable nose to sniff out food. Occasionally, it will come across hot springs while scouring the ground. When a Swinub finds an attractive smell, it will run desperately to find out the source of the aroma."

A mechanical voice said from the pokedex. Swinub quickly went to Dawn and yelled, like it was begging for something.

"Swinub, you want some poffins, don't you?"

Dawn quickly understood what Swinub was trying to tell her as she smiled and pulled out a bag containing Poffins that Dawn made and gave Swinub one as it quickly nibbled it and consumed it very quickly and begged for more.

"You really are a glutton, aren't you?"

Dawn gave her another one as Swinub quickly took it from her hands and started devouring it immediately.

"Heh, it reminds of me of Munchlax."

May mumbled as she let out a chuckle while continuing to stroke Glaceon's back.

"Hey I know, why don't we battle May?"

Ash said in a loud manner which caught everybody's attention including their pokemon.

"Uh sure, why not?"

May thought at bit before she agreed and stood up to her feet as she looked at her Glaceon with a determined look on her face.

"Glaceon, are you ready for a battle?"

She called out to her ice-type pokemon as Glaceon quickly nodded in response as they went to the other side of the field and looked back at Ash.

"Hmm, now who should I pick?"

Ash looked at his pokemon who were all eager to battle against his friend's Glaceon as they all raised their hands and waved at him, hoping one of them would get picked.

"Okay, Buizel, I choose you!"

Buizel let out a yell as it was very happy to get picked among the others who let out a sigh and went to the sidelines and watched the battle.

"PIKA! PIKA!"

Glaceon heard Pikachu cheering as she stared at him but was surprised to see that another pokemon was with him.

It had long furry ears while one of it was toppled over, and it looked like a rabbit. As the pokemon who was beside Pikachu was resting her hands on his shoulders, making her angry.

Buneary noticed her to be glaring at her as she immediately knew that Glaceon was also after Pikachu's heart. She stuck out her tongue at her and continued to be in very close contact with Pikachu, but now with her head was leaning against this.

Glaceon saw her clinging onto Pikachu as she became more furious. Buizel, her opponent noticed all of this and called out to Glaceon.

Glaceon looked at its opponent with annoyed look on her face, as Buizel said something in pokemon language and in a low tone so that only the two of them were able to hear it.

"Glaceon, are you ready?"

Glaceon heard her trainer calling her as she looked at her and quickly nodded and quickly looked back with her opponent with a wide grin on its face.

Brock went to the side where a referee usually stays so they can get a good view of the battle as he announced:

"I will be the judge of this battle. This will be a one-on-one match between May's Glaceon and Ash's Buizel. There will be no time limits and the match will be over when either of the two is unable to battle."

"Are the trainers ready?"

The two trainers looked at each other with great determination to win the match and nodded together.

"Let the match begin!"


	2. Chapter 2: Hatred

**Sorry for the very long update, school work's been keeping me busy throughout the whole week so sorry again for the inconvenience.**

**--------**

**CHAPTER 2**

**Hatred  
**

**--------**

Everyone stood quiet as they watched the battle between Buizel and Glaceon about to begin as the two stared at each other intently.

Buizel stared at its opponent with a huge confidence on his face as he made a wide grin, provoking Glaceon who completely took the bait, as her eyes were fueled by rage since the expression on her opponent's face mocked her.

"Glaceon, use Shadow Ball!" May ordered an attack as she pointed her finger towards Ash.

Glaceon quickly leapt to the air as she opened her mouth and a black ball of energy is formed, and shot it at Buizel.

"Buizel, jump and use Sonic Boom!" Ash ordered an attack as he clenched his fist and raised it to the air.

Buizel successfully dodged the Shadow Ball attack as it jumped upwards as its tail glowed white and Buizel did a flip and created a shockwave towards Glaceon.

"Glaceon! Dodge and use Secret Power!"

Glaceon sidestepped and quickly dodged the Sonic Boom attack and ran towards Buizel while it is still falling as her body glowed brightly pink.

"Buizel, dodge it and use Water Gun!"

As soon as Buizel's feet touched the ground, it quickly leapt to the side, barely dodging Glaceon's Secret Power attack, it quickly turned to its opponent and shot a Water Gun attack from its mouth.

"Now use Mirror Coat!"

Glaceon stood her ground as the bright pink glow on her body disappeared as her body became coated in a glowing substance that looked like ice as she took the Water Gun head-on and got pushed back a little while Buizel kept firing its Water Gun at its opponent.

After a few moments of struggling, Glaceon let out a shout as she deflected the Water Gun right back at Buizel with twice the power.

Buizel could only stand still in shock as the amplified Water Gun attack hit its body with such tremendous force that it got pushed back against a nearby tree with the back of its head hitting it first.

"Buizel, no!"

Ash could only shout in concern as Buizel was shaking from the impact and slowly got up to its feet while its body was shaking wildly. Buizel slowly opened its eyes and looked at its opponent who still had that same, pissed-off expression on her face.

"Buizel, can you still go on?"

Ash shouted, as Buizel looked at him and nodded and looked back at its opponent and raised its arms into a battle stance but was still shaking as the wide grin on its face was now gone and Buizel needs to get serious if he wants to win.

"Glaceon! Attack Buizel while it's still disoriented with Ice Beam!"

Glaceon opened her mouth and charged up a bright blue ball of energy and then released it in the form of three crooked light blue beams which was headed straight at Buizel.

Buizel saw a window of opportunity as it tail quickly spun around like a propeller, giving its trainer a signal.

"Aqua Jet!"

It was its cue as Buizel's body became engulfed by water as it charged directly at the Ice Beam attack head-on.

As Aqua Jet and Ice Beam intercepted, the water around Buizel became frozen instantly and was still charging towards Glaceon who seems to be not surprised at all in her current situation.

"Now use Shadow Ball!"

Glaceon opened its mouth as a dark ball of energy was formed and shot it directly at Buizel.

A huge explosion of light smoke was created as it quickly covered the entire field as everyone who were watching the battle covered their faces from the dusts as they tried to focus on getting a view on what was happening.

As the dust and smoke cloud slowly settled down, they could see two dark figures were visible but one of them seems to be moving lightly up and down.

As the cloud subsided, they were shocked to see a very tired Buizel with scratch and dust marks covering every inch on its body while Glaceon, its opponent, who seems to be unscathed by the whole incident.

"You used that move last time at the Wallace Cup competition, but don't think that same move will work on me, Ash."

May teased his opponent as she gave him a sinister smile as her confidence boosted greatly. Ash could only grit his teeth in anger and a bit of desperation as he tried to find a way to try and turn this around. Her opponent was tired and beat, and Glaceon wasn't even damaged at all.

"Darn it, " Ash muttered to himself, "Buizel, Sonic Boom!"

Buizel shouted while trying to muster up every bit of energy it has left, and jumped upwards. Buizel then spun around as its tail glowed white and released a barrage of shockwaves at its opponent.

"Glaceon, dodge and use Ice Shards."

Glaceon dodged every Sonic Boom with grace and elegance and opened her mouth widely as a barrage of Ice Shards came out from her mouth and was going directly at Buizel.

"Use Water Gun to deflect the Ice Shards!"

Buizel opened its mouth and created a stream of water current from its mouth which intercepted with the Ice Shard barrages.

Most of the Ice Shards were deflected as they quickly lost their power and fell to the ground, but a few of them still managed to hit its mark.

"Buiiizzzz…."

Buizel gritted its teeth as it tried to endure the sharp cold ice shards slicing through some parts of its body.

"Glaceon, let's end this with Secret Power!"

Glaceon's body glowed brightly pink as she charged at its weakened opponent.

"Buizel, use Aqua Jet, full power!"

Ash shouted in desperation as Buizel gave out a loud cry, trying to use every ounce of strength it has left and enveloped its body with water which was a lot bigger and stronger and launched itself towards Glaceon.

The two attacks collided head-on as a huge explosion of light smoke and dust was created while everyone covered their eyes so dust or dirt won't get into their eyes while they still tried to peek through the battle field.

"Glaceon!"

"Buizel!"

The two trainers shouted in concern for their pokemon who were still hidden from view by the thick cloud of dust and smoke, as they waited nervously until the dust cloud disappeared.

The dust cloud eventually subsided as everyone were surprised yet again, as they could see Buizel panting heavily with more bruises, scratches, and dirt than before while Glaceon was also panting heavily, as few bruises and scratch marks could be seen on her body but mostly on her head.

The two stared at each other intently. Glaceon looked at her opponent with that same expression of rage that could easily be read from her deep blue eyes. Buizel could only stare at her, as regret flowed to its mind, maybe it wasn't really a good idea after all. The damage finally took its toll on Buizel's body, and its feet gave up and it's whole body collapsed to the ground as Buizel fainted with its eyes swirled.

"Buizel is unable to battle, May and her Glaceon are the winners!"

Brock announced from the sidelines as he raised his hand at May, signaling that she won the match.

"Yay! Glaceon! We won!"

May yelled loudly as she ran towards her pokemon and hugged her tightly as she could as her pokemon hugged her back, suddenly forgetting the rage that was within her mind that fueled her to battle that intense before.

"Glaaeee!"

Glaceon also cheered as she gave May licks to the cheek as May rubbed her cheek against hers. Ash, sighing, thinking he didn't lose that badly before as he pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and pointed it at his fainted Buizel.

"Buizel, return."

The pokeball emitted a red beam of light as it engulfed Buizel, recalling the pokemon.

"You did a good job today, take a long rest, buddy."

Ash said slowly, he felt a bit sad for his pokemon. He brushed it off as he shook his head repeatedly, placed Buizel's pokeball back at his pocket, and walked towards his opponent.

"Thanks for a great battle May!"

Ash raised his hand toward hers, as May stood up and shook his hand with hers. A true sign of sportsmanship and friendship.

"Thank you too Ash. Your Buizel sure was stronger than before."

"Yeah I know, but man, Glaceon really got stronger from the last time we met."

Ash released the handshake and placed his hands on his waist as he stared at Glaceon, admiring the strength she had.

"I don't know about that, even I was surprised to see Glaceon so worked up in that battle."

May looked at her Glaceon with a confused look on her face as she put her hand on her pokemon's head and rubbed it slowly.

"Pika! Pika!"

Glaceon quickly turned to the side where she heard a familiar voice calling out for her. Amidst of Dawn and Ash's other pokemon coming over to them and congratulating them for winning the battle. Her eyes were set in finding that yellow pokemon through the group.

Her eyes widened in surprise and joy as she saw Pikachu coming towards her as her mouth formed a smile, clearly forgotten why was she even angry before.

But unfortunately, that joy and happiness quickly crumbled within her mind as she saw that familiar rabbit pokemon who was behind Pikachu.

Pikachu raised his hand high, as Glaceon clearly understood what he meant as she raised her paw and was about to give each other a high-five, until, Buneary quickly grabbed Pikachu's hand and put it down, and raised her hand to greet Glaceon's instead.

The two stared at each other very intently as their rivalry grew, as sparks of rage came out from their eyes and intercepted with each other.

Pikachu, who was completely clueless, simply smiled at them, seeing that the handshake that they made was just a sign of friendship.

"Well, well, look who do we have here?"

Everyone's attention quickly turned to a figure that was approaching the field. Their eyes were surprised while some of them turned into anger and rage.

The figure turned out to be a young man with lavender hair that reached up to his neck while the bangs covered his forehead. He wore a black and purple jacket with a dark colored shirt underneath, along with black jeans with purple and black sneakers to match his outfit with his hands inside his pockets.

Ash's eyes quickly turned to hatred to see his Sinnoh rival looking at them with that rough smile of his.

"Paul, what are you doing here?"

A blue-haired girl stepped in, breaking the silence, while looking at the lavender-haired trainer with a confused look on her face, while most of them were rage.

"I was just going to the pokemon center until I heard a pokemon battle going on, so I checked it out."

Paul said flatly as his face turned to that same, old emotionless expression he usually had.

"But to think that a pathetic trainer like you Ash, to get beat up badly by some girl."

Paul continued, but this time, clearly mocking his rival, as his pokemons quickly protested.

"By some girl? If you happen to know, the name's May!"

The brunette coordinator also protested, but due to Paul's nature, he completely ignored her and that statement she made.

"As far as I know, that was a good battle, and we gave everything we've got back there!"

Ash shouted at him, as the hatred inside of him grew.

"You said you gave everything you've got, but it still doesn't change anything that you lost."

"Why you-"

Ash was about to snap and ready to give Paul a punch to the face until he felt his shoulders pulled back a bit by two heavy hands.

"Brock-"

Ash turned to his back and saw his tall, spiky-haired friend grabbing his shoulders. Brock shook his head sideways slowly, telling him to stop what he was about to do right now.

Ash sighed as he let out the rage that was inside of them, as he turned back to his rival while clenching his fists tightly.

"Pika! Pikachu! Pipika!"

Pikachu suddenly shouted, getting everyone's attention including Paul's. He quickly let go of Buneary's hand and raised both of them in front of Paul while clenching his fists, making a battle stance.

"Looks like your Pikachu wants to battle me… Very well, since your Pikachu is the only one who is capable of a good match aside from the rest of your team."

Paul said flatly and calmly as he clearly understood what Pikachu wanted while Ash's five members protested again by that remark.

"Fine, a battle it is then! I'll show you how my pokemon got stronger than the last time we met."

Ash went back to his side of the field where he was previously stood when he was battling May while Paul went to the opposite side where May was.

"Please, when I'm finished with you, you'll have two embarrassing losses on this day."

Paul said while putting on that rough, arrogant smile of his while Ash gritted his teeth in anger as Pikachu stood in front and also stared at their rival.

"Well, choose your pokemon, Paul!"

Ash was getting pissed more and more as Paul began rummaging through his pocket and pulled out a pokeball from his right hand and threw it.

"Ursaring, stand by for battle."

Paul called out as the pokeball opened, revealing a tall bear-like pokemon with thick brown fur with a large light tan ring symbol on its abdomen. Its white, sharp claws on its hands and feet along with its usual angry expression on its face that could intimidate almost anyone who looks at it.

Pikachu, however, didn't move an inch or even show any signs of fright at all. Instead, he glared back at Ursaring with sparks dancing wildly from his red electrical sacs.

"I will be the referee of this match. This will be a one-on-one battle between Ash's Pikachu and Paul's Ursaring. There will be no time limits and the one that is left standing shall be declared the winner!"

Brock announced as he went back to the referee side while everyone else went to the sidelines to watch the upcoming match between Ash and Paul.

"So Dawn, tell me more about him? He doesn't seem to be the friendly type of person you usually see everyday."

May asked her blue haired friend while pointing at the lavender-haired guy who seems to be hated by everyone here.

"Oh, Paul. Well, he's like, umm, how do you say it, uhh, opposite of Ash's personality."

Dawn looked a bit puzzled as she tried to pick some words out from her mouth while touching her chin and looking at Paul.

"What do you mean by opposite?"

May continued to ask her to learn more about him.

"Umm, Ash cares about his pokemon deeply and praise them everytime whether they either win or lose, while Paul on the other hand, trains his pokemon harshly and never seem to praise any of them. And, if one of them doesn't reach his expectations, he abandons them."

Dawn said as May's eyes could only widen in surprise upon learning how cruel that trainer really is.

"Wow, I'm concerned how his pokemon think of him when they're treated like that."

"I don't know, I still think that there's something different about him aside from that attitude of his."

Dawn said as she stared in concern at the lavender-haired trainer who was always in his emotionless state, even she doesn't know why she's experiencing a strange feeling like that towards him.

"Bun! Bun!"

Buneary cheered loudly as she waved her hands to the air, trying to get her crush's attention.

Pikachu heard this as his ears twitched a bit and looked to the side where he saw Buneary happily cheering for him from the sides. He smiled for the moral support he was getting and gave her a thumbs-up.

Glaceon, not liking to be left out, also cheered for Pikachu with a much louder voice as she raised one of her front paw and waved it sideways which quickly caught the yellow rodent pokemon's attention as he also waved back at her for a bit and went back to his battle stance with a grin on his face.

The two love rivals stared at each other intently for a bit as both of them were trying to win Pikachu's heart but their glares were interrupted as they looked back at the field upon hearing Brock's voice.

"Are the trainers ready?"

Brock announced as he looked at the two trainers who nodded in unison. Ash clenched his fists as he looked at his rival who seemed to be relaxed.

"Let the match begin!"

"Okay, Pikachu, let's win this with speed! Quick Attack!"

Ash ordered an attack as he pointed his finger at their opponent as Pikachu quickly sprinted from where he stood and ran towards Ursaring in a zig-zag manner.

Ursaring, however, watched every movement Pikachu made intently with only its eyes and didn't even turn its head.

"Ursaring, Hammer Arm on the ground!"

Ursaring raised its arms up high as both of them glowed brightly and slammed it at the ground fiercely, cracking the grassy ground beneath, causing rocks and small debris to fly throughout the area.

Pikachu quickly dodged many of the rocks headed his way thanks to his speed and quick reaction time but his speed slowed down as he tried to reach Ursaring.

"Now leap and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu dodged a small rock coming towards him by leaping to the air as his thunder-shaped tail glowed brightly and headed straight to Ursaring.

"Now block it!"

Paul said flatly as Ursaring intercepted the Iron Tail attack with its huge thick palms. After a few moments as Pikachu tried to wriggle free, the glow on his tail faded away, cancelling the attack.

"This is bad…"

Ash could only mutter as Pikachu was practically defenseless in that situation.

"Now use Headbutt!"

Ursaring roared loudly as he released the tail and quickly grabbed Pikachu's torso and pulled him in for a very powerful Headbutt attack.

"PIKA!"

Pikachu got pushed back but managed to land on his feet, but suddenly his whole body began to tremble greatly.

"Bun! Buneary!"

"Glaccee! Glaee!"

Both Buneary and Glaceon shouted in unison as they watched Pikachu got hit, they looked at each other for a bit and quickly looked back to watch the fight in concern, as they set aside the rivalry they had, for the object of their affection was in danger.

"If you think that you can win by that kind of tactics you're using, well think again."

Paul grinned as he mocked Ash while his pokemon shot glares and loud protests at him.

'Dammit, what now?' Ash mumbled to himself as sweat can be seen on his face as he clenched his fists tightly, trying to figure out a way to try and turn this around.

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**Ash has just lost a battle against May and now he's on another tight situation and may end up losing for the second time but now its against his rival whom he hated very much. Can Ash and Pikachu pull it off and make a comeback to the end? Stay tuned…**

**Read and Review pls :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Enemies

**CHAPTER 3**

**Old Enemies**

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Everyone stood quiet at the sides as the battle between Ash and Paul was going on.

Everyone were wildly rooting for Pikachu to win, but now it seems that most of them were speechless, few were astonished, and Buneary was on the verge of crying as she leapt towards her trainer's arms.

"Buneary… I know how you feel as well, but I know Ash and Pikachu will pull through this." Dawn whispered to her as she embraced her rabbit pokemon.

"Bun…" Buneary gave a light smile to Dawn as she looked back to the yellow rodent pokemon closely who seemed to still be shaking and hurt from that Headbutt attack by Ursaring.

"Okay! Pikachu! Use Thunderbolt!" Ash commanded an attack as he clenched his fist and pointed it at his opponent. Pikachu nodded as he jumped and charged up electricity within his body as sparks were clearly seen to be dancing around.

"PikaaaaCHU!!!!" Pikachu released the stored electricity within his body in the form of a Thunderbolt and aimed it straight towards Ursaring who didn't even move an inch at all.

"Hey, won't Ursaring try to dodge that Thunderbolt attack?" May asked.

"I doubt it, Paul's been training his pokemon to receive attacks instead of dodging them." Brock replied as he crossed his arms as he looked at the lavender-haired boy intently.

"Ursaring, Focus Blast!" Paul said calmly as Ursaring channeled a bright ball of energy through its palms and launched it towards the Thunderbolt.

The two attacks intercepted and created an explosion of light smoke, covering the entire field from everyone's view.

Everyone waited anxiously as the smoke subsided; they could see Ursaring unscathed by the whole explosion, they looked to the other side, hoping they could see Pikachu unscathed as well.

But wait, where's Pikachu??? Everyone was surprised to see on Ash's field, there's no Pikachu in sight.

Paul too was surprised as he looked to his left and no Pikachu, he turned to his right, but still there was no Pikachu.

"Pikachu! Thunderbolt!" Ash suddenly ordered an attack, as everyone became confused.

Suddenly, a Thunderbolt attack struck Ursaring from above as it screamed in pain. Paul looked up to see that yellow rodent pokemon directly above them.

"I see, Ash used the explosion to his advantage." May said as everyone once again cheered loudly for Pikachu.

"Yeah, and since Pikachu can't fight Ursaring head-on, that aerial Thunderbolt attack was perfect while Ursaring was defenseless." Brock added as he smiled for his best friend.

"Now Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Ash commanded an attack, seeing this as an opportunity while Ursaring was still recovering from Thunderbolt. Pikachu enveloped his body with electricity and aimed himself towards Ursaring while using the gravity in his fall to power up the attack.

"Ursaring, Hyper Beam!" Paul said in a much louder manner as Ursaring looked up and opened its mouth as a bright orange ball of energy was formed and released it in the form of a beam and headed straight towards Pikachu.

"Pikachu, try and dodge it!" Ash shouted to his friend, getting hit by a Hyper Beam was no joke at all. Pikachu tried to dodge the Hyper Beam by spinning.

Pikachu hoped that this would work as he usually used this dodge tactic to evade some of the most powerful attacks thanks to Dawn's idea.

The Hyper Beam passed by Pikachu as he barely dodged the Hyper Beam attack and was now continuing its way towards Ursaring who was now a sitting duck due to the consequence of using a Hyper Beam attack.

"This maybe Ash's lucky break!" May said in a very happy tone while everyone was getting pretty excited at the window of opportunity he and Pikachu had against Paul.

"Dammit…" Paul could only mutter as he watched Ursaring get hit by Volt Tackle right on its head. Now its Ursaring's turn to have its body shaking wildly and painfully as it closed its eyes, held its head with its hands, trying to endure the pain.

"Great Work! Pikachu!" Ash praised Pikachu as everyone cheered loudly and happily.

Paul, on the other hand, was getting pissed off by the sudden comeback as a possible defeat entered his mind which caused him to grit his teeth, while those loud and annoying cheers made it worse.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Ash ordered another attack as Pikachu leapt away from Ursaring's head and to the ground while the thunder-shaped tail on his back glowed brightly. He leapt right back and was ready to swing its Iron Tail attack to Ursaring's face while it was still disoriented.

"Block it now!" Paul suddenly shouted in anger as Ursaring's eyes suddenly opened as rage fueled its body which helped Ursaring to endure the pain completely as he quickly swung its arm at the incoming Iron Tail attack, parrying the attack as the powerful impact quickly made the glow on Pikachu's tail disappear.

"What?!" Ash shouted as everyone's eyes widened in surprise, while Paul was the one who was now smiling.

"Headbutt, again!" Paul said calmly again as Ursaring quickly grabbed Pikachu's body and pulled him closer to receive a second yet stronger Headbutt to his forehead and threw him to the field.

"PIKACHU!" Ash shouted in great concern for his friend as Pikachu was about to hit solid ground.

"GLAE!!!" Glaceon shouted with fear in her eyes as her body began to tremble by the sight of Pikachu.

Fortunately, Pikachu's eyes quickly opened as he realized his situation and regained his balance which made everyone sigh in relief. He stood on his four limbs and was breathing heavily. His body gave unvoluntary shakes as the Headbutt attack took effect on his body.

"Now, finish it off with Hammer Arm!" Paul ordered an attack. Ursaring, however, didn't move an inch.

"Hey, I said Hammer Arm!" Paul was quickly annoyed as he thought that his pokemon was disobeying him, until he saw wild yellow sparks surging from Ursaring's body.

"That's great, Pikachu's Static worked!" Brock said as he gave out a sigh of relief.

"This maybe's Ash's last opportunity." Dawn said as she as Buneary jumped wildly from her arms, clearly cheering for Pikachu.

"Come on, Ash, make this count!" May shouted as everyone soon followed her, shouting and cheering for him while Ash clearly got the message.

"Come on Pikachu, Quick Attack!" Ash ordered an attack as Pikachu sprinted towards Ursaring and hit it on its stomach as the air was taken out from Ursaring as saliva can be seen coming out from its mouth as it knelt down and covered its stomach with its hands, that Quick Attack must've have hurt a lot given he was completely defenseless during that time.

"Now finish it off with Iron Tail!" Ash shouted as his whole body tensed at the window of opportunity.

"Pikaaaaa…" Pikachu's tail glowed brightly as he launched himself to give the final blow to Ursaring, hoping this move would finally end the match.

"HAMMER ARM! NOW!" Paul shouted as he removed his hands from his pockets and clenched them tightly which startling everybody. Ursaring heard him, as its eyes quickly opened while one of its arms glowed brightly.

Ursaring quickly darted from its ground and launched its Hammer Arm clothesline-style to Pikachu who didn't have any time to anticipate the attack at all.

Pikachu was knockbacked from Paul's field to Ash, as his body skidded along with the dirt and the large force made him roll numerous times before going to a complete stop.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash shouted as he ran towards a beaten Pikachu as he tried to stand up with his shaky limbs but quickly fell again.

Ursaring sighed in relief as it fell down on its knees and panted heavily and slowly. Paul pulled out its pokeball from his pockets and pointed it to Ursaring, until a huge robotic arm grabbed it and pulled it away before he could even recall it.

"What the?" Paul was shocked.

Ash was about to reach Pikachu when suddenly, another large robotic arm came out of nowhere and grabbed Pikachu away from Ash and the others.

"Hey what gives?!" Ash shouted as he stared at the direction where the robotic arm went.

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise as a tall and huge shadowy figure stood before them. It had huge metal legs with large bolts on each corner; they looked up to see its huge chest with a very large mirror with a red-R imprinted on it, and to the sides were its huge metal arms that were holding Ursaring and Pikachu.

"That R, not them again?!" Ash stared at the Huge red letter R that was awfully familiar to all of them. Then, its neck emitted white fumes as the head turned and opened as three shadowy figures rose from a platform.

"Listen, is that a voice I hear?" The tall female figure with a very long ruby hair said.

"It's speaking to me loud and clear." A tall male figure with blue hair partially covering the sides of his face said.

"On the winds, " The ruby-haired figure continued as she raised her hands up high.

"Past the stars, " The blue-haired figure mimicked.

"In your ears!" The shorter figure with a golden thing on its forehead said.

"Breaking chaos at a breakneck pa-" The ruby-haired figure known as Jessie said, until…

"Who are you clowns?" Paul shouted at them, interrupting their motto as the trio looked at him.

"Hey, twerp! No one interrupts us while we're doing our motto!" Jessie shouted back as she made evil glares at the lavender-haired trainer who seemed to be ignoring what she had said.

"Don't care, just give me back my Ursaring or else!" Paul replied in an annoyed tone.

"Or else what?" The trio replied as they stick out their tongues at him as the platform they were standing in descended as the trio went to their respective stations at the control center of the robot. Paul, however, was getting more and more annoyed.

"Torterra, stand by for battle!" Paul pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and threw it to the air, causing the ball to open and revealing a huge tortoise pokemon, as it created a tremor as its feet landed on the ground.

"Torrterrraaa!!!" Paul's grass-type pokemon shouted as it looked at Team Rocket.

"Woah, what's that pokemon?" May said as she pulled out her pokedex.

"Torterra, the continent pokemon. Upon evolution, the two bushes on Grotle's back turn into a single, small, bonsai-like tree. Being peaceful in nature, Torterra can tolerate many things even Pokemon making nests on its back. But when it is angered, it can unleash very powerful attacks. " A mechanical voice coming from the pokedex said.

"Wow, that Torterra looks very strong." May said as she stared at the huge grass-type pokemon.

"That's Paul's starter pokemon after all." Brock added.

"Well, I'm won't just stand here and watch while Paul does everything by himself, besides, he needs help in taking Team Rocket down." Ash said as he looked at his pokemon. His pokemon all looked at him and nodded in unison.

"Glaceon, you go help too." May said to her ice-type pokemon as she nodded quickly and followed Ash's pokemon.

"Buneary, you too!" Dawn said to her rabbit pokemon as Buneary also nodded and followed them.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Ash shouted as his pokemon also shouted and made their way around the robot.

"Oh, trying to surround us, huh?" James said in a relaxed manner.

"Meowth, do your thing." Jessie said as she looked at Meowth.

"Aye aye!" Meowth replied while giving her a salute and pressed a button on his control panel.

Suddenly, smaller robotic arms with red-like contraptions popped from the robot's huge metallic shoulders as they quickly moved towards the pokemon.

The small robotic arms quickly grabbed every one of Ash's remaining pokemon as the red bangle-like contraptions glowed, soonafter the hands of each arm formed into a red cage. Everyone quickly realized that they were trapped as they began using their attacks on the cage.

"You gotta love technology these days…" James said as he pulled out a red rose and sniffed it.

"Yap, all those attaks of yurs won't do u eny gud whayl insayd of those cages." Meowth said

"Yeah, and now we'll take that Torterra with us as well!" Jessie said as she pointed her fingers at the continent pokemon as few more arms appeared from the robot's shoulder and made their way towards Torterra.

The arms quickly grabbed hold of Torterra's body, a few on its sides, a few on its feet, and one on the trunk as they tried to lift Torterra. After a few moments, Torterra was still in place, as the continent pokemon made confused blinks as the robot arms changed positions and tried to pull it again but failed again.

Now, all of the arms grabbed hold of the trunk on its back and tried to lift it but to no avail. Everyone sweatdropped including Paul as the hands finally stopped and were pulled back to the robot's shoulders.

"Meowth, what's going on?!" Jessie shouted at the sweating Meowth.

"Oh I dunno, maybe becoz Torterra's tuu hevy to carry to begin wid?" Meowth replied in an annoyed tone as Jessie quickly realized that it's almost impossible to carry a Torterra.

"Oh yeah…" Jessie mumbled.

"Come on Dawn, let's go help too!" May whispered to Dawn.

"Yeah, you're right!" Dawn replied as they pulled out pokeballs.

"Wait!" Brock shouted, as both of them stopped.

"If you do that, Team Rocket would just capture every one of them!" Brock added, as both of them quickly understood what he meant and hid back their pokeballs.

"Then what are we going to do then?" Ash asked them, even he couldn't do anything right now since all of his pokemon are captured, including May's Glaceon and Dawn's Buneary.

"Looks like Paul is the only one who can save everyone right now." Brock said as he stared at Paul and his Torterra.

"Darn it, it's all my fault that I've put everyone in danger." Ash cursed himself as he gritted his teeth in anger and then May put her hand on his shoulder.

"Don't say that Ash, besides, if Paul is a really strong trainer like you said, then he can do it right?" May calmly said as her warm and soothing voice quickly calmed Ash down.

"Yeah, I know…" Ash said in a low tone as he stared at his rival, even though he was still angry about him, he couldn't do anything but also pray that Paul can pull this through.

"Come on Paul, you can do it..." Dawn mumbled to herself as she held her hands to her chest as she looked at the lavender-haired boy with a concerned look on her face.

Paul noticed Ash, May, Dawn, and Brock staring at him, as he knew that he's the only one who can beat Team Rocket in this situation.

"Hmph, how pathetic…" Paul mumbled to himself.

"Looks like it's up to you and me." Paul said to his pokemon as Torterra nodded.

"Now use Hyper Beam!" Paul ordered an attack as Torterra opened its mouth widely as a huge bright orange ball of energy was formed and shot it at the robot in the form of a beam.

The Hyper Beam attack struck the robot on its chest as it hit the huge mirror on the center, then suddenly the mirror deflected the Hyper Beam attack as it bounced back to Paul who was shocked while Torterra was stunned and could only watch as its body was too big to save his master.

Everyone was shocked at the situation Paul was in as their bodies ceased moving as fear quickly entered their minds, until they caught sight of a blue-haired person with a black sleeveless shirt and pink mini-skirt who quickly ran towards the lavender haired trainer.

"Paul, watch out!" Dawn quickly ran and leapt towards Paul, pushing him away and barely dodging the deflected Hyper Beam.

Everyone stared at the blue-haired coordinator's selfless act to save the trainer that most of them hated as the Hyper Beam harmlessly hit the ground.

Paul felt something heavy that was on top of him, although it was heavy all right, it was warm, it also smelled nice too. Until, he felt something soft pushing against his chest which made him quickly snap into realization.

He quickly opened his eyes as he saw Dawn on top of him who was still laying her head beside his as she slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position while still looking at Paul.

"Are you alright, Paul?" Dawn said as Paul could only stare at her with a shocked expression on his face as he looked down to see her body was sitting on his.

Dawn looked down to see where Paul was looking and quickly realized the position they were in as she quickly stood up and moved away from the lavender-haired trainer.

"Sorry!" Dawn could only say as she looked away as deep red blushes formed in her face. Paul slowly stood up as he tried to recall everything that just happened.

"I knew it that we should've installed this Move Repeller Mirror on this robot!" James said as the trio cheered and altogether began making teasing gestures at Paul.

"Grr… You'll pay for this…" Paul muttered as he gritted his teeth, as he put his attention back at Team Rocket who doesn't seem to care what just happened. He was definitely furious this time.

"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" Paul shouted as he pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and threw it to the air as the pokeball opened and revealed his electric-type pokemon.

"Stand back…" Paul said flatly to Dawn as he tried to hide away the faint blush as well as to forget the position they were in a while ago as Dawn understood what he meant and moved behind him.

"Ooh, that Electabuzz is sure to be lighter than that Torterra, come on, let's grab it!" Jessie said as Meowth quickly knew his cue as he pressed the same button.

Suddenly the robotic arms came back and quickly made their way towards Electabuzz.

"Torterra, Leaf Storm, go!" Paul ordered an attack as the leaves of the tree on Torterra's back glowed bright green and began to shake as thousands of razor-sharp leaves quickly sliced the robotic arms into tiny little metallic pieces as they all fell to the ground.

"Hey, those arms alone were very expensive!" Jessie complained as she grabbed James' neck and began shaking it vigorously.

Paul noticed at the center of the mirror on the robot's chest where the Hyper Beam had hit, there was a small crack that was barely visible.

"Hmm, looks like that Hyper Beam wasn't useless after all…" He thought to himself as he quickly thought of a strategy to bring that huge chunk of metal down.

"Electabuzz, see that crack?" Paul whispered to his electric-type pokemon as it stared at the mirror and quickly nodded as it also noticed the small crack.

"Great, now use Thunder and aim it there." Paul said as Electabuzz charged up electricity within the antennas on its head and unleashed the attack and aimed it at the small crack.

"Come on, you do know that all of your attacks will just bounce back to you by our Move Repeller Mirror." James said calmly as he looked at the Thunder attack colliding with the huge mirror.

After a few seconds, the mirror successfully deflected the Thunder attack back at Electabuzz but leaving a much larger crack than before.

"Electabuzz, use Thunder Punch." Paul smiled as he ordered an attack as Electabuzz roared as it clenched its fist tightly as it channeled electricity and enveloped it at its arms as it hit the incoming Thunder attack and quickly sent it right back with a bigger and amplified power.

The mirror on the robot's chest received the amplified Thunder attack as it tried to deflect it again. But now, the cracks became much bigger as the mirror barely deflected it right back at Electabuzz.

"Now use Protect!" Paul ordered Electabuzz as it crossed it arms and clenched its fists tightly as it formed a green barrier around itself as it received the amplified Thunder attack head-on.

The Thunder attack quickly vanished since Protect nullifies the damage of any incoming attacks.

Now, the cracks on the center of the mirror were quickly visible, as small shards began to fall off, as everyone now realized what Paul was trying to do.

"Uhh, Jessie, I think that we should go now before this can take more damage." James slowly said to his partner in crime.

"Yeah, good idea, let's get out of here." Jessie agreed as she gave the Meowth the next instructions as the talking feline pokemon grabbed hold of two joysticks as the robot slowly turned around and began walking away in a sneaking manner.

"Oh no you don't, Torterra, Frenzy Plant!" Paul shouted as Torterra's whole body glowed brightly green as it raised its front feet and slammed it to the ground, then large thorny vines appeared in front of Team Rocket's robot, making them stop.

"Now, aim it at the center!" Paul said as Torterra let out a roar as all of the vines coiled together into a spiral and pierced the center of the robot, easily penetrated the mirror and passing through the control room the trio were in until it reached the back of the robot.

The vines pulled back as it revealed a huge hole on the center of the robot as sparks and smoke fumes came out from the huge machine.

"Uh-oh…" Meowth muttered as the control room as smoke entered the room making the three of them panicking.

"This can't be happening!" Jessie shouted as she began slamming her fist at the control panel, as she desperately tried to make the robot to work.

The malfunction and damage to the robot made the entire thing shut down, as the huge arms lost its grip, releasing both Ursaring and Pikachu.

"Pikachu!" Ash shouted as he ran towards his partner and caught him with his arms while Ursaring landed on its feet and walked slowly towards his trainer.

Then, the smaller arms also ceased to function as the red cages immediately disappeared, releasing everyone.

May caught Glaceon and hugged her tightly while Dawn caught Buneary and did the same.

"Everyone, you okay?" Ash asked and knelt down with Pikachu still in his arms as all of his pokemon hugged him.

Eventually, the robot exploded, leaving a few burnt chunks of metal as Team Rocket was sent flying across the horizon.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" The trio shouted as they disappeared to the horizon.

Paul looked at the remains of that giant robot then pulled out three pokeballs of his pocket.

"Return." He said flatly as he recalled his Electabuzz, Ursaring, and Torterra back in their pokeballs and put it back to his pocket.

Everyone stared at Paul as he proceeded to leave without saying anything else.

"Hey Paul!" Ash called out as he stood up and ran towards the lavender-haired trainer who looked back at Ash with an annoyed look on his face.

"Thanks for saving everyone back there." Ash said as he fixed Pikachu's position on his left hand as he raised his right hand to him, offering a handshake.

Paul stared at his hand but refused and gave out a 'Hmph' as he looked back and walked away from the group.

"Paul…" The blue-haired coordinator said as the lavender-haired boy looked back at her. The two stared at each other, then Paul muttered something from his mouth that everyone couldn't even hear it and continued his way.

Dawn just smiled at Paul as if she clearly understood what he meant.

'_Thank you…'_ She thought to herself to what Paul must've said to her, but couldn't manage to say it out loud in front of everyone here.

'_Maybe, you're not so bad after all…'_

_To be continued…_

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A wonderful way to start Ikarishipping don't you think? Read and review :D


	4. Chapter 4: Hospitality

**First off, I am sorry for the very, very late update in this story, mainly because I've been away from my computer for about three weeks. I want to apologize for the long delay, and I hope that this chapter will be good, since I am having less and less free time lately.**

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**CHAPTER 4**

**Hospitality**

**------------**

Ash, May, Dawn, and Brock stared at a window silently as a pink-haired nurse treated the yellow rodent Pokémon, who was covered with bandages along with wires connecting to the various machines to check the vital signs and such.

"Come on Ash, Pikachu's going to be fine." Brock patted the black-haired trainer's shoulder with his hand.

"I know, but when every time Pikachu got seriously hurt, I feel that it's entirely my fault." Ash said in a depressed tone.

"Wait, I know!" The brunette coordinator suddenly said, quickly getting everybody's attention.

"Why don't we have lunch, that can cheer you up."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right…" Ash gave a light smile that made May blush a bit.

"I'll come visit you later buddy…" Ash touched the glass window and looked at his best friend who seemed to be sleeping peacefully even with the injuries he got.

Suddenly, the door to Pikachu's room opened, and the pink-haired nurse whose name that everybody knows came out from the room while holding a chart on her hands.

"Nurse Joy, will Pikachu be okay?" Ash quickly asked her.

"Don't worry, Pikachu's gonna be fine, he just needs a long rest and he's good to go." Nurse Joy replied with a cheerful smile which made everyone sigh in relief.

"See Ash, Pikachu's gonna be alright." The blue-haired coordinator said.

"Yeah, thanks for the help, Nurse Joy." Ash said.

Suddenly, white rays of light came out from May's fanny pack and Dawn's backpack. They all stared in surprise as the rays materialized into the form of a rabbit pokemon and a fox pokemon.

"Buneary!"

"Glae!"

The two of them called out their names and quickly darted inside Pikachu's room.

"Hey, you two, wait-" The brunette coordinator ran after the two who just popped themselves out of their pokeballs and entered Pikachu's room without any permission.

But Nurse Joy stopped her by raising her hand and looked at the two climbing towards the electric pokemon's bed and softly calling out his name.

"I think that they just want to look after Pikachu, that's all." Nurse Joy said and smiled.

Pikachu's eyes slowly opened up and were greeted by a pair of deep sapphire eyes and a pair of black, round eyes in which he quickly recognized them.

"Pika…" Pikachu slowly but happily said and smiled at the two which made them overjoyed. As they tried to get closer to Pikachu, they bumped against each other and gave each other a nasty glare.

"Now you two, you can stay here and keep Pikachu company, but he also needs his rest okay?" The pink-haired nurse said and the two love rivals faked a smile at her and nodded and then they stared at each other again.

"Wow, Nurse Joy. Thanks a lot."

"Oh, you're always welcome. Now if you'll excuse me…" Nurse Joy calmly said and bowed down to the four and went inside the room opposite to where Pikachu was staying.

"Hmm?" May stared at the window of the room where Nurse Joy just entered as she approached the window to get a closer and clearer view inside as the others followed.

"Hey, isn't that Paul's Ursaring?" Dawn asked as she got a closer look at the huge brown-bear pokemon with bandages covered its head and a few parts of its body.

"Yeah, you're right, and I thought Paul never even have his pokemon be treated at the center." Ash said in confusion, he's even surprised that his rival did this without even told by someone much older or better than him.

They stared at Ursaring for a while, until a familiar weird sound interrupted the silence that filled their minds.

'Grrr, grrr, grrr' Sound of a stomach grumbling :D

The three all stared at the source of where the sound was coming from as the brunette coordinator could only laugh nervously and blushed in embarrassment.

"Come on guys, let's have lunch already!" May said as she headed straight to the lobby while holding her stomach.

The three now stared at each other and shared a laugh.

"Come on, I'm getting hungry too." Ash said as the two nodded in unison and ran towards a hungry May.

Ash, Dawn, and Brock quickly caught up with May as she suddenly stopped in her tracks and stared at something.

"Hey May, what's wrong?" Dawn asked her as they also looked at the direction where May was looking.

"Hey, it's Paul." May pointed at the lavender-haired trainer who seemed to be talking to a much taller and muscular man with silver hair reaching to his neck.

"Wait a minute, isn't that the same guy who bumped you back at the harbor?" Ash asked as he approached the two to get a closer look at the man.

Both Paul and the silver-haired man quickly noticed and stared at Ash who quickly stopped in his tracks as the three followed behind.

"Hey it's you guys again." The silver-haired man smiled and approached the three.

"You're the guy that we've just met back at the harbor, now what's your name again?" May asked.

"Yeap, name's Luke, and you must be Ash." Luke bowed down lightly to the three and quickly pointed at Ash.

"Uhh, yeah, but how do you know my name? We haven't introduced ourselves yet." Ash replied in a confused expression on his face.

"Well, Paul here has been talking about a black-haired trainer with a Pikachu. And when I saw a trainer holding an injured Pikachu on his hands earlier, I quickly thought that it was you he's talking about." Luke replied.

"And you three, not yet. So, what are your names?"

"Oh, my name's May." The brunette coordinator said.

"Hello, my name's Dawn." The blue-haired coordinator said.

"And my name is Brock. It's a pleasure to meet you." The spiky-haired breeder said and raised his hand as Luke quickly shook hands with him.

"So, how long have you known Paul?" Dawn asked out of curiosity while Paul noticed and stared at the blue-haired coordinator.

"Well, let's just say I met Paul through his brother, Reggie."

"Wait, you know Reggie?" Ash suddenly asked in a very loud manner.

Paul, feeling that they must be talking about him, quickly approached the four.

"Hey, Luke, about that battle I've been asking…" The lavender-haired flatly said while keeping that same old emotionless state on his face.

"Oh yeah, why don't we talk about this some other time. Paul asked me to battle him to help him train his pokemon." Luke did a facepalm and smiled in embarrassment as he almost forgot about that.

"Battle? Can we watch?" Ash quickly got excited.

"Sure, why not?" Luke replied as he headed straight towards the door.

Paul stared at the four and followed Luke behind. The gang looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders together and followed the two.

But unknown to them, two pairs of eyes were staring at them from a distance.

One had deep ruby eyes which were lightly covered with its emerald hair while the other had sapphire eyes and were partially covered with its black, shiny hair.

"Isn't he the one?" The sapphire eyes asked its partner.

"Gar…" The ruby eyes replied.

-------

"This looks like a great spot to battle." Luke said as he stared at the open grass field just near the pokemon center.

"Hey, this is the spot where we battled earlier." Ash said to himself as he looked around the same open field they were training at.

Luke went to the farther side of the field while Paul went to the opposite. Ash, May, and Dawn went to the sides where people usually stay to get the best view of the battle and a safe spot.

"So what are the rules?" Paul asked loudly so Luke, who was on the other side of the field can hear.

"I need to get going somewhere, so how about a one-on-one, no time limits?" Luke replied as he crossed his arms.

"Fine." Paul flatly replied.

"And I will be the judge of this battle." Brock said as he went to the referee's side.

"Are the trainers ready?" He asked loudly as the two trainers nodded in unison.

"Let the match begin!"

"Weavile, stand by for battle!" Paul pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and threw it to the air.

"Gallade, showtime!" Luke called out with his arms still crossed, much to everyone's surprise. Suddenly, a ray of light shot out from his pocket.

"Vile!" The dark-ice pokemon shouted as it raised its claws, ready to battle.

Luke's psychic-fighting pokemon didn't say anything and did his battle stance and looked at his opponent intently, trying to watch its every move.

"You may have the first move, Paul." Luke said confidently.

"Fine." Paul was slightly annoyed by that statement, but since he was fighting a friend of his brother, he must be a really powerful trainer. Making the first move may be his advantage.

"Use Blizzard!" Paul flatly said as Weavile widely opened its mouth as a powerful wave of snow rushed out from its mouth and headed straight towards Gallade.

"Psychic." Luke said with his arms still crossed as his pokemon complied and raised his arms and opened his palms as his body glowed brightly blue.

Before the Blizzard attack could come into contact, the entire wave stopped instantly as each piece was covered with the bright blue energy.

Gallade easily stopped the Blizzard attack, he closed his hands tightly and in an instant the entire Blizzard attack disappeared into nothing more but moisture in the air.

"Use Shadow Claw!" Paul ordered in an annoyed tone as Weavile ran towards its opponent in a very quick pace as its two sharp claws became engulfed with dark energy.

"Intercept it with Psycho Cut." Luke ordered with a light smile visible in his face while Gallade ran towards Weavile with his blade-like arm glowed brightly blue.

Both attacks struck each other fiercefully as the two used their strength to try to overpower one another.

But unfortunately, Weavile seemed to be struggling as it gritted its teeth and tried to use every bit of strength to try to win. While Gallade only smirked, and with one swing, Weavile was sent flying backwards.

"Shadow Ball, go!" Paul ordered as he removed his hands from his pockets and clenched them tightly, while Weavile struggled to raise its head and opened its mouth and formed a dark ball of energy and shot it at Gallade.

"Teleport, then use Psycho Cut." Luke ordered and Gallade closed his eyes and instantly he disappeared into thin air as the Shadow Ball attack completely missed its mark.

Weavile was about to recover and stand on its feet until Gallade had teleported in front of it with both of his blade-like arms glowing brightly blue.

"Use Shadow Ball again!" Paul was getting desperate, he could feel his sweat pouring down his face, his teeth gritted against each other.

Weavile opened its mouth to try to create another Shadow Ball attack from its mouth, but it was too late, Gallade quickly hit its right shoulder and left leg with his Psycho Cut attack.

"VILEEE!" The dark-ice pokemon could only scream in pain and was sent flying again and hitting the ground.

"Stand up!" Paul angrily shouted at his fallen pokemon who struggled to stand up despite the intense pain it was feeling on its right shoulder and left leg.

Weavile slowly rose to its feet and raised both of its sharp claws while panting heavily with only one eye open as its body shook wildly.

"Paul…" Dawn murmured to herself and covered her mouth with her hands as she grew concern over the lavender-haired trainer while the others could only stay quiet at the whole battle.

"Shadow Claw, go!" Paul ordered while Weavile ran first slowly as it gained speed but suddenly stopped and fell down to its right knee while clutching an injured right leg.

"Hmph, so much for its speed." The silver-haired trainer said with his arms still crossed and looked at Paul with a smirk on his face while the lavender-haired trainer could only watch in fear of losing this battle.

"You know, if your pokemon cannot go any longer, you can always forfeit the match. It's always the trainer's responsibility for the safety of his pokemon you know." Luke continued, his face turned from a grin to a serious look.

"Not a chance! Weavile can still fight!" Paul replied in a very annoyed tone, but somehow it felt like desperation.

"Weavile, Ice Beam!" Paul ordered as the dark-ice pokemon raised its head and widely opened its mouth as a large ice orb was formed from it and shot it at Gallade in the form of three crooked light blue beams.

"Well then, you leave me no choice…" Luke muttered to himself and gave out a sigh.

"Hyper Beam."

Gallade raised its arms to his back and charged up an orb of orange energy Dragonball style and shot the Hyper Beam attack at the incoming Ice Beam.

The two attacks collided fiercefully, but after a few moments , the Hyper Beam overpowered the Ice Beam attack and hit Weavile straight in the face.

Weavile was pushed back and landed on its back, its whole body couldn't take damage any longer as it fainted and its eyes became swirly.

"Weavile is unable to battle. Luke and his Gallade wins!" Brock raised his hand as he announced the results of the battle.

"Whoa, I've never seen Paul lose that badly before… except against Cynthia of course." Said the blue-haired coordinator.

"Man, that Gallade must be extremely powerful." Ash said and watched Luke coming towards Paul's side of the field with his Gallade trailing behind him.

"I want a rematch." Paul said flatly and pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and recalled his fainted Weavile and placed it back on his pocket while the gang approached the two.

"No problem, Hey, I know where we can have our rematch." Luke replied and pointed his finger towards the tallest building in the town which can be easily seen with its humongous size.

"See that large building over there? It's Coralgreen's Stadium and it will be hosting a trainer's tournament three days from now. Contestants fight against each other to win the ticket for free admission for the Sevii Islands." Luke continued and pulled out a folded flyer from his pocket.

"Sevii Islands? You mean the best vacation paradise in the whole world with the best luxurious beaches and restaurants?" May squealed in delight and quickly swiped the flyer from his hands and opened it to look at the prizes of the winner.

"Yep."

"So when does the tournament start again?" Dawn asked.

"Three days from now."

"So we have lots of time to train!" Ash cheered and raised up his clenched fist.

"So Paul, you gonna join right?" Luke asked the lavender-haired trainer who turned to the other side and began to walk away from the group.

The lavender-haired trainer stopped and looked back, staring at the silver-haired trainer for a while until his eyes came across of the blue-haired coordinator's.

The two stared at each other for a bit, Dawn being confused and all while Paul just continued to stare at her blankly as the thoughts from the encounter with Team Rocket before filled up his mind, especially the part where Dawn risked herself on getting hit by that Hyper Beam attack to save him.

"Ahem."

Luke loudly said and broke the silence between the two, he smiled devilishly at the boy who had a light blush on his face and shook it off.

"Y-yeah." Paul hesitantly said as he rubbed his eyes, turned back and continued to walk away again.

The five of them stared at Paul from where they stood as he slowly faded away from their sight. Luke now stared at the face of the blue-haired coordinator who also had light blushes on her face.

"Hmm?" May noticed figures that seemed to be looking at the tall, muscular, silver-haired trainer.

The one had deep ruby eyes with emerald hair and white skin, while the other one had sapphire eyes with long black hair that reached to its chest and fair skin.

May stared at their faces as she continued to look down, the emerald-haired one had a slender body, its white flawless skin reached to its neck with its arms and chest seems to be colored green. On its chest was a red horn that was also present on its back.

She continued down to look at the skirt it's wearing. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the figure seemed to levitating from the ground.

'A pokemon? So that other one must be its trainer.' May now focused her sight at the two figures before she got interrupted by that familiar sound.

'Grr, grr, grr…' Her stomach grumbled again and wanted to get her attention as she lost focus and stared at her stomach which was being ignored after all this time.

"Wah, lunch?! I completely forgot about it." May blushed in embarrassment and fell down to her knees, the hunger she was experiencing took out much of her energy.

"Lunch? Well then, why don't you guys come with me, I know a good place for us to eat." Luke suggested as everybody stared at him in confusion.

"Really? You mean it Luke? WOW!" May screamed for joy, upon hearing that statement gave her a boost of energy to stand up and jump around wildly.

"Sure, now follow me." Luke turned around and started to walk in a quick pace while everyone else quickly followed him behind.

May quickly turned her head to the side where she took a glance at the two suspicious figures, and they were suddenly gone.

She shrugged her shoulders as her mind could only think of right now was food.

---------

"Well, here we are." Luke said as they stood in front of a huge restaurant while everyone else stared at a huge picture of a Magmar and a Nidoking wearing a chef's hat over their head while having their arms crossed and holding a frying pan, below the two were five stars glowing brightly.

"Whoa, a five-star restaurant. Looks expensive." Brock said as they continued to stare at the splendid exterior of the restaurant with their mouths still widened in surprise.

"Come on in guys." Luke called them over and they hurriedly went to the entrance of the restaurant.

The gang entered the restaurant and they were surprised yet again, the pleasant aroma of food quickly filled their noses.

The restaurant was full of costumers, and the waiters who were carrying the food were… Pokemon?

"Welcome back, Master. I presume these are your guests?" A deep voice greeted them as they stared at a fox-like figure with a long moustache and wearing a tight tuxedo with a white towel hanging on its arm.

"Yes. The usual as always, Alakazam." Luke said with a smile as the psychic pokemon smirked and bowed down before them.

"Then, follow me please." Alakazam led the way while everyone followed the silver-haired trainer and the psychic pokemon while continued to stare at the unusual setting of the restaurant.

An Ambipom carrying two trays filled with delicious meals and served it to a table of four, while a soothing music coming from a small stage that looked like Kricketunes and Sunfloras.

While on the other table, four costumers were laughing out loud by the Haunter who were making funny faces for their entertainment.

"Wow, I've never seen anything like this." Dawn said to herself, being mesmerized by the pokemon who were actually working instead of humans.

The gang went towards the kitchen door, and again, they were amazed as the kitchen staffs were entirely pokemon.

A Scyther cutting up some vegetables in just a second, a Magmar with a chef's hat heating up two woks it was holding with a small Flamethrower attack. A Tangrowth grabbing dirty dishes and giving them to a Golduck as it sprayed water from its beak.

And all the commons pokemon yells and each other, all that you hear everyday while inside a busy kitchen.

"Ahem…" The Alakazam in a tuxedo faked a cough as it caught the entire staff's attention who looked at the silver-haired trainer, stopped their work for a bit, and gave him a salute.

Luke smiled and nodded and everyone went back to their usual work. His guests' jaws dropped in surprise as they continued to follow the two.

The four were led to a room that looked so majestic. It had everything, comfortable seats, a golden long table, a widescreen LCD TV, a beautiful view of the landscape and a karaoke machine to name a few.

"This is so amazing." May said in awe.

"Well, welcome to my restaurant, so please enjoy your stay here." Luke proudly said as their mouths opened wider than before while Luke smirked at their reactions.

"All of this is yours?!" Dawn asked while continuing her curious inspection of the room.

"Yep."

"And those pokemons who work here?" Ash asked next.

"All of them are mine."

They were stunned in amazement yet again.

"Take a seat. The food will be coming after a few minutes." Luke led them to the dining area as they all sat down and it felt like that they're in heaven.

"Man, this feels so good." May relaxed in her chair, the cushion pressed on every inch of the weight, giving anyone the best comfort it can give.

"Luke, I'm just curious. How did you thought of this idea? Pokemon working instead of humans?" Brock asked in a polite manner.

"I can't really explain it well, it's just like it came to my mind suddenly. Instead of my pokemon rest and do nothing, why not make them productive?" Luke calmly said.

"Besides, all of them liked the idea and they loved working here." Luke finished as the door opened.

Brock's instincts quickly activated as he caught the scent of a pleasant female aroma coming from the door.

"Man, I think I just smelled a beautiful woman coming-" Brock said and turned around to see the 'beautiful woman' his mind was thinking about.

His jaws dropped in surprise instead as they saw a tall female Lopunny wearing a maid outfit carrying a tray with empty glasses and a large pitcher of juice with her two fluffy hands.

"Oh…" The spiky-haired breeder said disappointingly for he saw a pokemon instead of a human.

"But she's so beautiful…" Brock's instincts took over again while May quickly pinched his ear to bring him back to reality.

"Come on, now pokemon?" May shouted as Brock screamed in pain.

"Ow, ow, ow, I was just joking!" Brock shouted at the top of his lungs and finally May finally let go of his now red ear and he rubbed it slowly.

"Hahaha, you guys are funny." Luke was amused while his Lopunny placed their drinks on the table, pinching Gallade on his cheek and left the room, leaving a confused Gallade holding his cheek.

After a short while, the door opened again and a line of pokemon holding trays with their meals and placed them over the golden table.

Freshly baked loaves of bread, deep fried chicken wings, salted fish rice, golden crab and corn soup, noodles, salad, sushi with freshly cut ingredients, fish fillet beautifully sliced and spread with those mouth-watering seasonings, and finally a blueberry shortcake. All cooked with perfection by pokemon.

All of their mouths were widely opened while saliva could be seen from Ash and May's mouth which were all amusing to the owner of this five-star restaurant.

"Well dig in you guys."

_Meanwhile…_

'Hey, no fair! Why did she pinch him like that? What she's trying to do Mary?' The emerald haired figure complained and shook its partner on the shoulder vigorously.

"Calm down, Gardevoir. It's just a pinch!" The young black-haired woman known as Mary replied back and removed her pokemon's hands off her shoulders.

'Oh, and you wouldn't care if someone makes a move on your sweetheart?' The psychic pokemon teased her trainer, giving her a deep red blush on her face as she began to laugh.

"…Shut up." Mary could only utter two words from her mouth and looked away from the huge window they were peeking in earlier.

'Oh yeah, how long will we have to hide like this? It's getting boring, I'm tired, I'm getting cold, and I'm hungry! When do we eat?' Gardevoir complained to her telepathically.

"You complain too much, besides we just have to wait a little-"

'Wait? We've been doing this ever since we saw him aboard the same ship we're in!'

"I just wanted to make sure…" Mary said slowly and sadly. Gardevoir sensed her feelings, maybe she went a little too far there.

The two stood quiet and looked back at the gang who were now enjoying the feast. This went on for a while until…

'Grr, grr, grr…' The sound of a stomach grumbling echoed from Mary who blushed in embarassment.

'Auuuggghhhh!'

--------

After the feast, the gang stood outside the restaurant, their stomachs filled with the delicious meals they ate together while enjoying the luxury comfort.

"Man, I'm so stuffed." Ash said while picking his teeth with a toothpick.

"Me too. Thanks for the hospitality Luke." Dawn said and bowed down to their silver-haired friend.

"Heh, no sweat it." He replied.

"C'mon, treating us four for free? Isn't that very expensive?" May complained.

"Money is not a problem for me, besides, if you guys aren't around, Gallade and I can finish the whole thing by ourselves." Luke replied with a wide smile and patted his pokemon's shoulder as he nodded in agreement.

"Hmm?" Something caught the brunette coordinator's sight as two figures slowly approached them.

One had deep sapphire eyes, just like hers, and black hair which seemed to shine prettily. While the other one had ruby eyes and emerald hair which was pretty familiar to what she saw before.

"Excuse me…" The black-haired woman slowly said as everyone stared at her.

"Umm… uhh?" She asked in a hesitant tone while Gardevoir rolled her eyes and elbowed her to the abdomen.

"Isn't your name Luke?" She asked him with a much determined tone.

"Uhh, yeah. But how do you know my name?" Luke said as he raised his eyebrow and his expression pretty much confused.

'But how do you know my name?' That statement somehow tore a part of her heart as she quickly regained her composure.

"Don't you remember me? I'm Mary, your best friend since childhood remember?" She asked him again.

Unfortunately for them, Luke only stared at her blankly and shook his head 'No'.

"But you have to! We used to play together everytime. Your Gallade and my Gardevoir was still a Ralts back then." She now turned her sight to Gallade, who was also confused as his master was.

"Look, I'm terribly sorry but I really can't remember a person named Mary. I can't even remember my past, where I was born, everything." Luke calmly replied and looked at his partner who shook his head.

Small tears formed from Mary's eyes as she quickly removed it with her hands. Her heart becane heavy and torn, but at least she finally found him. She inhaled deeply and exhaled, then looked back at the silver-haired man with a smile.

"No, I am the one who should be sorry. I shouldn't have force you even though you can't remember. Now, why don't we do a proper introduction, my name is Mary and this is my Gardevoir." She cheerfully said as she and her Gardevoir bowed down.

"Sure. My name is Luke and this is Gallade and these are my friends: Ash, May, Dawn, and Brock." Luke replied with a smile while everyone gave their greetings to her.

She gave out a blush and quickly covered her face to conceal the blush as her mind filled with thoughts about him while her partner sighed and pinched her arm which made her come back to reality.

"Ahh… So where are you guys headed to?" She asked loudly while clutching at her now swollen arm.

"We're going to the stadium to register for the upcoming tournament there." Ash replied excitedly, another chance to compete against different trainers, and maybe get a chance to fight Luke.

"Yeah, and the winner receives tickets for free admission to the Sevii Islands!" May added. She too was excited just like Ash, but their thoughts were completely different since all that she thought of was swimsuits, food, and beaches.

"Yeah I know! I've already registered there! Man, I'm gonna win that tournament!" Mary also became excited as she and May grasped each others hands and giggled.

"Well, have fun you guys. I need to stay her for a while, you know, owner duties and such." Luke said and began to walk back towards the restaurant door.

"Wow, that five-star restaurant is yours? Your parents must be proud of you." Mary complimented him, but instead Luke just stood there with a blank expression on his face while Gallade also stood there blankly as well.

'Parents' That word echoed throughout his mind as faint memories of his past suddenly appeared.

_FLASHBACK_

'No! Pokemon are completely forbidden inside this house!' A tall silver-haired woman shouted.

'You will take over the family business, and those things will only hinder you in your training.' An older looking man with white hair and moustache added.

'No! All you care about is money! You don't care about me! I hate you!' A silver-haired child complained while clutching his Ralts with his arms.

'Don't you dare raise your voice at me, young man.' The woman protested.

'I don't care, I hate this place!' The child shouted and ran away.

'Wait! Young Master!' A much older man with a long moustache with a tuxedo on said as he tried to catch the child.

'Stop… He'll come back, crying back to us just like always.' The older man calmly said.

The child, however, didn't stop running, tears flowed slowly from his eyes, few teardrops fell down his shirt, few on the floor which made small trails behind, and few on Ralt's head.

He hated home, he hated everyone there. And he wanted to get out from that nightmare of a home.

_END OF FLASHBACK_

"Luke, are you feeling well?" Dawn asked the silver-haired man who seemed like he's in a trance.

"Y-yeah… Oh, by the way, you can only use one pokemon in the tournament, and you need to bring that one for some assessment, examinations, whatever. See you later guys." Luke quickly shook his head repeatedly and went straight towards the door with Gallade following behind who also shook his head repeatedly.

"Hey, can you give me a tour around your restaurant?" Mary approached the silver-haired man and asked.

"Hmm… I don't see what's wrong with that, sure I guess." Luke, who looks like his usual self again, calmly said.

"Really, thanks, I always know you're always like that." Mary said while smiling at him cutely.

Luke, on the other hand, stared at that cute smile that resembled someone he just suddenly knew from the past, maybe that flashback triggered something.

"Hmm… wonder what's wrong with him a while ago?" Brock asked.

"Beats me… Come on, let's go back to the Pokemon Center! I want to register Pikachu for the tournament." Ash said as he ran ahead to the direction of the pokemon center, while everyone else stared at each other and shrugged their shoulders in unison.

"See you later Luke!" May shouted as the four waved their hands in unison while Luke quickly came to his senses and did the same and then went inside with Mary and her Gardevoir following behind.

'I sensed that when you said the word parents to him, he somehow remembered something…' Gardevoir telepathically said to her trainer.

'I've been thinking about that too…' Mary replied.

'Hmm… didn't Gallade stood like a statue like he was back there?' The black-haired trainer asked.

'Our family can share our thoughts with anyone we hold dear, especially our trainers, meaning Gallade and Luke share with each others thoughts and memories.' The psychic pokemon said.

'Oh yeah, I kinda remember the dream you had with Gallade, strolling together in a field, your hands holding each other, and – OWW!!!'

Mary screamed as Gardevoir pinched her arm much harder than before with a faint blush on her face could be seen.

--------

Meanwhile, back at Pikachu's room.

Pikachu's previous smile turned upside down as he sighed at the two on the floor arguing with each other. He rested on his pillow and covered his ears with his hands, trying to lessen the annoying noise coming to his ears.

Glaceon and Buneary were now fighting over a plate of sliced apples. Glaceon bit the plate and pulled it hard while Buneary used all her might with her hands.

The two yelled simultaneously as they gave their final and strongest pull at the plate, but unfortunately, the plate slipped out from their grasps by the powerful force they've put into pulling it, as the plate flew above.

Buneary quickly leapt up and grabbed the plate with her long furry ears, beating Glaceon to it due to her amazing jumping abilities.

Buneary landed on her feet and looked at the plate with a smile, but that smile quickly turned into confusion as the sliced apples on the plate were all gone.

Soon after, the apples fell one by one on the floor, while the last one hit Buneary on the head while Glaceon laughed.

Her laughter stopped when the two of them heard munching sounds above them and then stared at Pikachu who was munching on a sliced apple with an annoyed expression on his face.

Both Glaceon and Buneary were embarrassed. Glaceon inhaled deeply, trying to calm herself down while Buneary did the same.

"Glaee, glaee…" The ice-type pokemon whispered to Buneary's ear while the rabbit pokemon listened intently and giving nods every few seconds.

Pikachu looked at the two in confusion as they both nodded and gave each other a high-five.

Then, Buneary went to Pikachu's side while Glaceon stood on the other side to get the best view.

"Bun! Bun!" The rabbit pokemon ordered Pikachu who raised his back from the pillow and Buneary went behind the yellow mouse pokemon and gave him a shoulder massage.

Pikachu felt a bit weird at first, but eventually, the feeling became nice and relaxing for him as he closed his eyes and gave out light moans.

Glaceon felt a bit tense on what Buneary was doing, as the rabbit pokemon just smiled at Pikachu while not looking at her rival.

This went on for a few minutes, Glaceon was getting more and more frustrated as the rabbit pokemon was taking her time and enjoying it as well to the clueless Pikachu.

She moved her head closer to the back of the electric pokemon's head and smelled him slowly. The crush she had on him was developing which her body got closer and closer to Pikachu's back by instincts.

Glaceon quickly knew that she was going to make a move on Pikachu as she leapt from where she stood and went towards the two.

"Glae!" She yelled out which interrupted the wonderful massage Pikachu was having, as the two stared at her, Buneary was mostly annoyed by this.

"Glae, glae, glae!" She told her rival as she lowered her eyelids in frustration, she had to follow that part of the deal they made earlier.

She removed her hands from Pikachu's shoulders and gave him a cute wink before leaping towards the other side where Glaceon was standing, so she wouldn't disturb the two, which was also part of the deal.

"Glaee, glaceon…" The ice-type pokemon sweetly told the clueless pokemon who agreed without thinking seriously about the sudden change of attitude between the two.

He laid flat on his stomach with his head turned to his right for air as Glaceon placed her front paws on Pikachu's back and gave him a massage.

Buneary crossed her arms in disgust, the massage was her idea, Glaceon just improved it. She inhaled and exhaled deeply to calm her down.

The pressure on her paws was greater than what Pikachu had with Buneary's hands. It was a bit painful at first, but eventually, his body became used to it and now he was enjoying every gentle push she gave to his back.

Glaceon was also enjoying this, she's never been too close with Pikachu before, and this moment is maybe her most memorable time she's gonna have with him.

Pikachu gave much louder moans of pleasure from the massage. Glaceon could see the cute smile he had.

Her crush towards the boy also developed into something more, deeper, or what mostly would say… love. Her mind became filled with thoughts as she forgot the whole environment around her, including her love rival. It's like it's just her and Pikachu.

Her body moved closer, her head was now merely inches away from Pikachu's right cheek. She was going to do it, and this maybe her only chance to do it to him yet.

She kissed Pikachu's cheek as the yellow mouse pokemon felt a moist, soft feeling on his cheek.

But when he was about to open his eyes, Buneary leapt from where she stood and landed on Glaceon's back as jealousy filled her thoughts.

Glaceon couldn't take the weight that was suddenly put onto her as her paws quickly gave and her body landed on Pikachu, plus Buneary's weight.

Pikachu screamed in pain and quickly opened his eyes.

Glaceon's and Pikachu's eyes met with each other, silence filled the room as the two continued to stare at each other as blushes could be seen from their faces.

Buneary, however, quickly realized what she had done, pushed Glaceon off Pikachu and began complaining at her while stepping on Pikachu's face and completely blocking his vision.

All Pikachu could hear was their yells against each other, arguing with each other about the deal they've just made.

His vision was blocked due to Buneary's foot on his face, while both of their weight were on top of Pikachu's back. This wasn't a massage anymore as his body was literally stepped on like a foot rug.

Glaceon and Buneary were now pushing their heads against with each other while still arguing about that, their rivalry growing more and more.

But there is one thing that the two of them completely forgot, as the object of their affection and the primary reason their rivalry started had enough of this, as Pikachu let out a powerful Thunder attack that completely electrified everything inside his room.

_to be continued…_

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**This is by far my longest chapter yet. The Pikachu-Buneary-Glaceon Love Triangle is progressing nicely, as for more Ikarishipping and Advanceshipping scenes, well you just have to wait next chapter.**

**New characters and proper introduction for Luke from the first chapter which will have a role in this story.**

**And hopefully, the next chapter will be done for about a week or two, or lesser which I really hope.**

**So Read and Review people!**


	5. Chapter 5: Teamwork

**Another lengthy chapter finished within a week, and happy to say that your favorite shippings will continue and progress nicely.**

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**CHAPTER 5**

**Teamwork**

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The gang walked towards the pokemon center so Ash can bring Pikachu with him to register for the upcoming tournament in this lively town.

They entered the pokemon center, while Ash leading the way for he was very excited to see his buddy again.

"Hey, where's Nurse Joy?" Ash scratched his head as the pink-haired nurse who was usually by the counter disappeared.

"Hey, looking for Nurse Joy? She went over that room after one of the people here saw a bright yellow light coming from that room." A orange-haired boy sucking his lollipop who was only an inch shorter than Ash pointed towards the room where Pikachu was currently at.

"Hey, isn't that Pikachu's room?" The brunette coordinator asked.

"Sure is, come on, let's check it out." The spiky-haired breeder said as the gang went to the window of Pikachu's room to take a peek inside.

Their eyes widened in surprise to see Pikachu sitting on his bed, without his bandages, being assessed by Nurse Joy as she looked at his mouth with a popsicle stick.

While on the other side of the bed were two fainted pokemon.

"Glaceon!" " Buneary!" Both May and Dawn called out their pokemon and rushed inside while Ash and Brock followed behind.

"Oh, it's you kids again." Nurse Joy happily greeted the two coordinators and bowed down.

"What happened here?" May asked the pink-haired nurse while staring at the room, which smelled burnt while weak surges and sparks could be seen coming out from the affected machines.

"From what I understood from what Pikachu was saying, it seems like Buneary and Glaceon were doing was hurting and annoying him instead of taking care of him and helping him to relax." Nurse Joy said and continued to assess Pikachu.

"Hmm? Looks like Pikachu's feeling a whole lot better now, I don't see anything wrong at him at all unlike before." She said and wrote something on a chart she usually brings with her.

"Really? That's so cool Pikachu!" Ash cheered in joy and embraced his best friend tightly while Pikachu returned the hug.

"So what about those two?" May asked while rubbing Glaceon's and Buneary's heads while they slowly recovered from the shock and got up to their feet shaking.

"I've already checked them and lucky for them that the Thunder attack coming from Pikachu didn't seem to do any serious damage to them."

"So are they going to be alright?" Dawn asked.

"Of course, they are still feeling dizzy from the shock, but eventually it will wear off." Nurse Joy calmly replied with her signature smile which made the trainers sigh in relief.

"Pikachu is feeling a lot better and he's good to go. Now if you'll excuse me…" The pink-haired nurse said, bowed down and left the room.

"Man, what's this world going to do without those Nurse Joy's around?" Brock said with his mouth drooling.

"Here you go again, Brock…" May rolled her eyes and carried Glaceon to her warm, slender arms while Dawn did the same to her Buneary, now they were the ones who needs some rest.

"Hey Pikachu, are you up for a tournament?" Ash asked his best friend who was resting at his shoulder.

Pikachu was a little confused at first, but quickly understood what his trainer meant and quickly nodded in agreement and with a determined look on his face.

"Great! Let's go guys!" Ash led the way again while the three followed behind, their next destination: The Coralgreen stadium.

"So May, what pokemon are you going to use?" Ash asked the brunette coordinator out of curiosity.

"I think I'm going to use Glaceon." May said and stared at her ice-type pokemon on her hands, as Glaceon quickly nodded in agreement.

"How about you Dawn?" May asked her blue-haired friend and rival.

"Who else?" Dawn smiled and cuddled her rabbit pokemon who quickly knew who she meant and cheered for joy.

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The gang finally arrived at the entrance of the stadium. It was really huge from where they stood, large posts that were supporting the building were carvings of different pokemon as decoration and attraction.

"Come on guys! What are you waiting for?" Ash said and ran straight towards the door.

"Heh, some things never change, do they?" Brock said to himself as they followed behind.

They found themselves at the lobby of the stadium, they were hoping to see people flocking around the place, but instead, it seems to be deserted.

"Hey, who's that guy?" May pointed towards a fat man in a blue suit sitting on a chair with his head down on the table with his arms covering him, and he seems to be weeping since they could hear loud sniffs.

"Dunno, come on, let's go talk to him." Dawn said as they approached the man cautiously.

"Excuse me… Do you know what happened here?" Dawn politely asked the weeping man.

"I… sniff… closed the… sniff… stadium…" He said between those loud sniffs he's been making.

"Why? What for?" Dawn asked again.

Suddenly, the fat man rose from his chair and slammed his palms to the dampened table.

"The prize ticket has been stolen! And it's all my fault!" The man shouted in tears, as droplets could be seen coming from his eyes and from his nose which made Dawn shrieked in surprise.

"Do you mean the ticket for free admission to the Sevii Islands?" May asked in a loud tone.

"Yes…" The man replied and sat down again and covered his face with his dampened sleeves.

May could feel her whole being crumbling down to pieces, her mind that was set on those beaches she could visit, the food we wanted to eat, the swimsuits she loved to wear and show off, all of that seemed to vanish away from her.

"Hey guys, I think we should help this guy. He looks miserable." Brock whispered to them.

"Yeah, you're right." Ash replied as he and Dawn nodded in unison.

Suddenly, May slammed her palms to the table, startling everyone and getting their attention while the fat man in a blue suit slowly rose his head up to meet with hers.

"We want to help!" May said in a very loud tone.

"Really? You guys can help me?" The man said in surprise as happiness could be seen from that watery face of his, as he inhaled deeply, pulling back the droplets from his nose which made everybody gross out.

"So how did this happen?" May asked courageously while still recovering from that disgusting act he just did in front of them.

"Follow me then, the name's Cid by the way. I'm the owner of this lovely establishment." The fat man wiped his face with his arm, which made the gang gross out more by the now fresh dampened portions on his blue sleeve could be easily seen.

The gang gave their introductions and Cid led them to a room.

"This is my office, and that is the safe where I kept the prize of my tournament." He pointed to the black thick safe as the gang inspected the open safe.

"So did you get a good look on the person who stole the ticket?" May asked the man.

"Yes I have, there were actually three of them, and one of them was a talking Meowth from what I can remember." Cid said and stared at the ceiling while rubbing his chin.

"Team Rocket… I should have known…" Ash gritted his teeth in frustration.

"But how did Team Rocket unlock the safe, it has a password instead of a lock…" Brock said as he stared at the door of the safe.

"It's terrible I tell you! They've tortured me to make me spill the beans!" Cid weeped again in shame and fright.

"How exactly did they torture you?" Dawn asked.

"They suddenly ambushed me and tied me to that chair, gagged me up, then removed my shoes and socks… and… and…"

"And what?" May asked in frustration.

"They've tickled me with a feather!" He finally confessed, making everyone drop their jaws in surprise.

"It's terrible I tell you! They held my bare, sensitive feet to the air, the blue-haired man held my feet in place so I can't shake it off, while the other two tickled me with that feather non-stop!"

"Why didn't you scream for help?" Ash asked.

"Are you an idiot? I was gagged, I couldn't even scream! And that horrible nightmare lasted for thirty minutes I tell you!"

"Wow, I couldn't even last for a few seconds when I was tickled by my mom when I was a kid." May muttered to herself.

"So where did they run off to?" Brock asked Cid.

"They escaped through that window and headed straight towards the forest, but by now, they might have already been gone." Cid began to cry again.

"Come on guys, let's go after them. Knowing Team Rocket, they're always slow in getting away." Ash said as the gang agreed and nodded in unison.

"We'll find those crooks and bring the ticket back, Cid. We promise." May said while giving her signature wink.

"Really? You will? Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cid jumped for joy and cheered loudly.

"No problem. Just leave it all to us." Dawn said as the gang leapt outside the window and headed straight towards the forest where Team Rocket have escaped in hopes in catching those no-good crooks before they make their escape.

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The gang entered the forest and began their search for Team Rocket who apparently stole the prize ticket May was yearning for a long time.

"Hey May, wait up, we might get lost!" Brock shouted to her, but she ignored the warning as she continued to move on within the forest while everyone else sighed and followed her.

But after a long half-hour search, she began to grow tired as she let Pikachu, Glaceon, Buneary to lead the way. Now she was regretting not following Brock.

Yep, they are lost alright…

Unfortunately, Pikachu was the only one who was focused in finding Team Rocket or getting out of here, while Glaceon and Buneary were currently focused on their rivalry at the moment and pretending that they were also searching whenever Pikachu looked back.

Finally, they can see light through the thick trees, bushes, vines and shrubs at the other side of the forest. Everyone was overjoyed as they quickly ran towards the exit of the forest.

Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary were the first to get out and cheered for joy for some sunlight at last.

But something caught Pikachu's eyes as he stared towards the direction and saw a Meowth hot-air balloon just near from where they stood.

"Pika! Pika!" Pikachu called out to his trainer and pointed his finger at Team Rocket's balloon.

"Hey guys look! That's Team Rocket's balloon!" Ash called out to the others and quickly ran towards it.

"Come on Pikachu, let's go!" Ash called out as his electric-type pokemon quickly ran ahead of him with Glaceon and Buneary at his side.

"Hey Ash, wait up! We just got out from that forest, can't we take a break?" Dawn loudly complained, she wasn't used in this kinds of chases.

"No way! I'm going to get that prize ticket back! Team Rocket's going to pay!" May replied while running alongside Ash with Brock behind them.

"Oh, come on…" Dawn, who was falling behind, used the remaining energy within her body to at least jog her way to catch up with the others.

--------------

The gang took cover of the nearby trees and bushes as they slowly moved closer to Team Rocket's location.

"Hey, there they are." May whispered to the group and pointed at the good-for-nothing trios who apparently were taking a nap outside their hot-air balloon.

"Come on guys, let's get that ticket before they wake up!" Ash said as they all agreed, Pikachu sprinted towards the sleeping trio with Glaceon and Buneary right behind him.

Suddenly, the ground beneath Pikachu softened by their weight, which became a pit fall as the three fell again for Team Rocket's trap.

"Ah, Buneary! I'm coming!" Dawn said as she darted from her hiding spot.

"Hey Dawn, wait! It may be a-" Brock shouted to the blue-haired coordinator who seemed to ignore him as he quickly ran to try to catch up with her, until, well the ground beneath them softened as well as the two of them fell together in another pit fall trap.

"Brock! Dawn!" May ran to their rescue with Ash right behind her who was deep in his thoughts.

'Why do I feel like I'm having déjà vu-' He was interrupted when his feet was now stepping nothing but air, and before they knew it, they were in another pit fall trap and a nasty fall.

Ash and May took a rough, dirty landing to the soil beneath them as a light dust cloud formed from the impact.

As the dust cloud subsided and recovering from the fall, both Ash and May felt a soft, moist feeling pushing against their mouths, as they opened their eyes, Ash was on top on her, with their lips locked.

They stared at each others eyes for a bit as blushes formed in their faces until May realized the whole situation she was in, and well, all hell broke loose.

She raised her hand in the air and gave Ash a powerful slap to the right cheek that he'll never forget.

The smack was very powerful which sent Ash's face flying towards the opposite side of the pit, his face met with the rough, dirt soil. His eyes became swirly, the red hand mark on the now swollen cheek was clearly visible and small torchics could be seen circling around his head.

"My…first…kiss…" He managed to say before he lost consciousness.

May could only cover her mouth in shock, she never kissed someone before, well yes, if you count her parents, to the cheeks of course. But a full lip-to-lip contact that she wasn't expecting totally took the energy out of her.

Her first kiss with a boy, her travelling buddy around her home region, Hoenn. Her best friend, her mentor…

Deep blushes were formed in her face as thoughts and memories filled her mind.

She was really fond of romance and love stories, and one particular story she quickly recalled, especially on how the man and the woman started their love life together because of that accidental first kiss.

"I knew the pitfall trap would always work on you twerps!" A blue-haired man with a white Team Rocket uniform.

"Oooooooohhhhhhhh, I saw everything twerpette, you naughty, naughty girl… Making mushy-mushy over that twerp over there." The red-haired woman with a curled end said, teasing her as she pucked her lips and kissed the air, while the coordinator quickly hid the blush on her face with her hands.

"Shut up! You guys stole the prize ticket, did you?" May became enraged, as she shouted at the trio.

"And what if we did?" Jessie said as she revealed the stolen ticket from her pocket and placed it under her nose and rubbied it horizontally.

"GIVE IT BACK!" May shouted back, as the trio only laughed at her reply.

"Please twerpette, we've already had a hard time getting that ticket, especially tickling that old geezer's smelly feet just to make him spill the beans, and we will just give it back to you?" Jessie replied back, as the brunette coordinator ignored and started to climb up the rough wall.

"I wouldn't try that girl, we've made these pit fall traps extra deep this time, so even if you did manage to reach half of the pit, you will already out of breath." James said as he flicked his long hair to the side, while his other hand was carrying a long, sturdy-looking pole, on the end of the pole was a net with their pokemons inside.

"Pikachu! Glaceon! Buneary!" May shouted, as the three slowly regained consciousness from that fall earlier and immediately found themselves trapped again by Team Rocket.

"Come on you slowpokes! Let's get out of here before we blast off again!" Jessie called to her two teammates as they nodded in unison and left them.

"Team…Rocket…again?!" Ash mumbled to himself, he regained consciousness after having a faceplant with soil as he slowly got himself while still wobbly, with the red slap mark still visible on his cheek.

"Ash, we got to do something!" May shouted.

"I know, but how do we get out of here, this pit must be deeper than the previous ones we fell for." Ash replied as he stared above, clearly climbing out of this pit was impossible.

"Wait, I know." May suddenly got an idea as she rummaged through the contents of her fanny pack, and then pulled out a pokeball.

"Go Venusaur!" May shouted as she used all her strength and threw the pokeball as high as she could.

Luckily, the pokeball reached the ledge as it opened and revealed a huge grass-type pokemon.

"Saur!" Venusaur roared and stared down the pit.

"Venusaur, I want you to use Vine Whip to lift us up!" May commanded her Venusaur as her grass-type pokemon nodded and summoned two thick and long vines from its back and lowered it towards the two.

"Great idea May!" Ash said and gave her a smile.

"Uh, thanks." She said while blushes started to form on her face and looked away as that kiss scene quickly came to her mind.

The vines finally reached them as it coiled around their abdomen and slowly pulled them up.

"Whew, finally out of that pit trap again." Ash said and sat down comfortably on soft grass.

"Yeah, you're right." May replied.

"Come on, let's go after Team Rocket!" Ash sprang up from his feet as he pointed at the Meowth hot-air balloon not very far from where they are now.

May nodded as they started to run after the trio who stole the prize ticket as well as their pokemon.

"HEY! WE'RE STILL HERE YOU KNOW?" A loud female voice called out to them.

"Oh yeah, Brock and Dawn are still down there." Ash embarrassingly said as a large sweatdrop formed from their heads.

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Pikachu, Glaceon and Buneary found themselves on another similar situation they usually experience almost every Team Rocket encounter.

The three of them were trapped in a net that somehow felt like its rigged like all the previous nets he was in, but if he tried to use any electric-type attacks to break free, he might risk getting both of them hurt instead, especially Glaceon who was an ice-type.

Sighing, he stared at the two who seemed to be scared without their trainers around. But before his mind could think of a strategy to escape from this situation, his mind was occupied suddenly on the two of them.

They were really close to him, their heads merely a few inches from each him, while their bodies were touching on both sides, feeling like he was inside a sandwich, mainly because they were cramped inside and the space inside was very small.

Glaceon was scared, she wasn't kidnapped before especially there were no Team Rocket in the Johto region. She leaned closer to Pikachu, her warmth combining with his which somehow calmed her down.

Buneary, was also scared and was hugging Pikachu, as the two of them were invading his personal space.

Pikachu, amidst of all the combined warmth of them together, he could smell their scent.

He inhaled deeply, as their scents entered his nose and tingled his nerves, giving him an unusual feeling he never felt before in his entire life.

That feeling was awfully similar in his room back at the Pokemon center, where his face got closer to Glaceon and blushes formed from their faces while Buneary leaned her face toward his and gave him winks.

He never felt like this before, but before his mind could wander off, he immediately shook his head and slapped his cheeks.

They were still trapped, and they need to get out of here without their trainers' help.

Pikachu whispered to their ears as the two leaned closer to his face to hear him completely and clearly.

Pikachu stopped a bit as that unusual sensation tried to invade his mind. He quickly inhaled to calm him down, and then proceeded to tell his plan to the two girls.

The two liked the idea and nodded together in unison and stared at each other for a bit and grinned, setting their rivalry aside for this time as they put their plan into action.

"Hey! Whad are you blabbering bout?!" Meowth said as he pulled out his long, sharp claws and slowly approached them.

Buneary stared at him, then laughed hard while saying something only fellow pokemon would understand.

The two of them joined afterwards, Pikachu also joined in the laughter while Glaceon stuck out her tongue and made funny faces to mock Meowth.

"So, you tink my Fury Swipes attak cuddunt hurt a caterpie, huh?" Meowth translated what Buneary had said to him as he gritted his teeth in anger.

"No one mocks me en geds away weed it!" Meowth leaped and swing his claws at them, but together, they leaned backwards as the claws sliced through the net, setting them free.

"MEOWTH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Jessie shouted at the pokemon as Meowth only stood there with his mouth wide open but couldn't say a word, realizing he made another fatal mistake.

Pikachu quickly tackled Meowth and sent him flying towards Jessie's face.

"Why you! We'll do this the hard way then!" Jessie threw Meowth from her face to the floor and pulled out a pokeball.

"Go Seviper! Teach them a lesson!" Jessie called out.

"Sevvvipppeerrrr!" The serpentine pokemon roared and stared at its target.

"Now use Poison Tail!" Jessie commanded as the poison-type pokemon's sword-like tail glowed purple and swung it at Pikachu.

But unfortunately, Pikachu was too close to them as the tail hit one of the four poles that was holding the hot-air balloon.

"Wah! Seviper! Why'd you do that for?!" James shouted as he grabbed hold of the nearest remaining pole left as the hot air balloon was left in imbalance.

Glaceon took the opportunity and opened her mouth wide open and aimed it above as shards of ice came from her mouth and pierced the hot-air balloon inside-out.

"WAH!!!" The trio cried in panic and hugged each other while Seviper coiled itself around their bodies as the hot-air balloon fell roughly towards dirt below.

Pikachu, Glaceon and Buneary all braced for the rough impact as the hot-air balloon hit solid ground and skidded a bit, rocking everyone inside before it got into a complete stop.

The three pokemon quickly ran out of the hot-air balloon and cheered together for a job well done.

"Why you?! You'll all pay for this!" Jessie shouted as she slowly got up to her feet with fire burning from her eyes, she was angry all right.

"Yanmega! Come on out!" She said and pulled out a pokeball from her pocket and threw it to the air as it opened and revealed a huge dark-green dragonfly pokemon.

"Mega." Yanmega roared as it stared with its creepy eyes which tried to intimidate its three enemies.

"Carnivine, you help out too!" James grabbed a pokeball from his pocket and threw it to the air, the pokeball opened and revealed a huge flytrap pokemon.

"Vine!" The grass-type pokemon happily said and quickly leaped towards James and gave him a playful bite on the head.

"Not me you idiot! Them!" James struggled and pointed at the three, then he lifted Carnivine out of his arms and threw it to the field.

"Now use Bullet Seed!" James ordered as Carnivine responded with his mouth wide open and released thousands of glowing seeds at Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary's direction.

Glaceon moved forward and opened her mouth and released a barrage of Ice Shards and intercepted with the Bullet Seed attack.

Unfortunately for Carnivine, the Ice Shards were much bigger and stronger than its Bullet Seed, which the ice shard attack easily overpowered it and hit the grass-type pokemon at its head.

"V-vine…" Carnivine cried in pain as it tried to cover its head with its vine-like arms.

"Yanmega, use Sonic Boom!" Jessie commanded as Yanmega's wings glowed brightly, and with one strong flap, it summoned a big and powerful wave headed straight towards them.

"Pikaaaaaa…CHU!!!" Pikachu responded as he charged up electricity within its body as wild, yellow sparks were coming from his red sacs and released all the charge up electricity in the form of a Thunderbolt.

The Thunderbolt attack easily overpowered the Sonic Boom attack and struck Yanmega head-on.

"MMMMMeeeeeeggggggaaaaaaaa!" Yanmega screamed in pain as electricity surged throughout its body with amplified power since Yanmega is a flying type.

After the devastating Thunderbolt attack stopped, Yanmega was all burnt up, its whole body covered black and immediately fainted as it fell helplessly to the ground while some wild surges could still be seen.

"Yanmega, return." A shocked Jessie said and pulled out its pokeball and recalled it back before it hits the rough solid ground.

Buneary's eyes became sparkly, completely amazed by Pikachu's power and cheered for Pikachu, who only scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Meowth, get in there!" An enraged Jessie shouted as it lifted Meowth on the back of his neck and threw it towards their enemies.

"Okay then, I'll teetch 'em a lezon not tu trik me!" A determined Meowth said to himself as he revealed his long and sharp claws, and headed straight towards an unsuspecting Buneary.

"GLAE!" Glaceon shouted to Buneary, as her sparkly, wide eyes returned to normal and quickly looked at what was happening.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw Meowth with both his arms raised, ready to strike.

Her instincts immediately got hold of her, her feet immediately sprang up as Meowth was about to swing his arm but hit nothing but air.

Glaceon, Pikachu, and Meowth were all surprised, Buneary reacted so fast and now she was on top of Meowth.

Buneary delivered a Bounce attack and slammed her feet to Meowth's back which made him taste dirt in his face as his whole body fell flat onto soil.

Glaceon's body glowed pink brightly and quickly charged towards Meowth with a Secret Power attack, Buneary quickly leapt out of the way as Glaceon hit Meowth with such force that he was sent flying back at Jessie's face.

Buneary smiled and thanked Glaceon for the warning, as the ice-type pokemon replied with a warm smile also.

"Meowth, get off me!" Jessie lifted a fainted Meowth out of her face and threw it to the ground.

"Seviper! Use Poison Tail on Pikachu!" Jessie angrily commanded as her poison-type pokemon quickly dashed towards Pikachu with its sword-like tail glowed purple.

"Carnivine, attack with Bullet Seed!" James ordered his grass-type pokemon as it leaped towards the air and unleashed a barrage of Bullet Seeds from its wide mouth aimed at the three.

Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary looked at each other and nodded in unison. Pikachu leapt towards Seviper with his tail glowing brightly, charging up his Iron Tail attack while Glaceon jumped upwards and released an Ice Shards attack and intercepted the Bullet Seed attack again.

The Ice Shards overpowered the Bullet Seed attack yet again as many of the shards struck Carnivine as it helplessly received every ice shard on its body.

Carnivine has reached its limits as it couldn't take damage any more and it fainted in mid-air and fell towards its trainer, making his body fall flat to the ground due to the force and its weight and made him eat dirt.

Pikachu intercepted the Poison Tail attack with his Iron Tail. Both of them struggled to overpower one another.

Unfortunately for Seviper, it forgot one very important thing, only to realize it the hard way.

Buneary leaped towards a surprised Seviper to the face as her fluffy ears glowed brightly and unleashed a combination of Dizzy punches.

Seviper took plenty of Dizzy punches to the face, as Buneary finished with an powerful uppercut to its jaw, while the power of its Poison Tail attack faded off.

Pikachu now leapt towards a stunned Seviper and used his Iron Tail attack again as it glowed brightly and swung it at its body.

Seviper was sent flying back towards Jessie as it joined the others in lying down on the ground, soiled and defeated.

Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary cheered for victory and nodded in unison for one final attack.

Glaceon and Buneary jumped to the air and opened their mouths wide open, as blue orbs were formed and released into Ice Beam attacks.

Pikachu leaped to the air and charged up electricity within his body and released the electricity in the form of a Thunderbolt and combined with the two Ice Beam attacks as it formed into a devastating attack onto a defeated Team Rocket.

A huge explosion occurred as the trio were sent flying again, twice on the same day.

Another unfortunate event for them, is that the prize ticket they've worked out in stealing it slipped out from Jessie's pocket due to the powerful blast as it fell out of her reach.

"No! The ticket!" Jessie cried as she desperately tried to reach for the ticket, but its already too late for them, as they all blasted off to the horizon.

"Pikapi!" Pikachu shouted and pointed at the falling prize ticket.

Buneary quickly ran towards the prize ticket and used her powerful leaping ability as she jumped and grabbed the prize ticket with her fluffy ears.

"PIKAPI!" Pikachu shouted again as he headed straight towards her. Buneary, however, thought this as a praise as she gave him a smile, until she looked beneath her.

Her eyes widened in surprise and fear as she was only few feet away from a raging river and she might get washed away along with the ticket and she closed her eyes in fear and cried for help.

Pikachu sprinted towards Buneary and leaped at the right time with perfect momentum and caught Buneary in his arms as they landed safely on the other side of the river.

Buneary slowly opened her eyes and saw the yellow mouse pokemon, overjoyed, she hugged him tightly while Glaceon, sighed in relief.

But the rivalry they've postponed earlier just got continued when her eyes widened in surprise and her jaw dropped open as she saw Buneary giving Pikachu a kiss on the cheek.

Pikachu was silent and held his cheek where Buneary pressed her lips at while his eyes stared at the rabbit pokemon while she gave him a cute face and a wink.

He was completely stunned, and that unusual feeling took over again. His face began to form blushes again, but now his heart was pounding fast.

Buneary was really happy, while Glaceon wanted to wrap her arms around her rival's neck, but from where she was, she couldn't do anything to intervene.

Fortunately for the ice-type pokemon, before Buneary could do any suspicious act towards Pikachu. They could hear their trainers calling out for them.

"Pikachu! Buneary! Glaceon!" The three trainers called out their respective pokemon as they all were overjoyed and rushed towards them.

Buneary grabbed Pikachu's body tightly and leaped towards the other side of the river while still in her happy state while Pikachu, on the other hand, was only silent and still holding his cheek.

"Are you guys alright?" Dawn asked and knelt down and Buneary leaped towards her trainer's warm arms and gave each other a hug.

"Hey, what this thing on your ears?" Dawn asked and grabbed the prize ticket from her pokemon and inspected it closely.

"Wow, this is the prize ticket you guys!" Dawn became overjoyed as everyone got closer to check the ticket.

"Yep, that's the prize ticket all right, looks like those three defeated Team Rocket all by themselves." Brock smiled as the three blushed in embarassment.

"You did a very good job back there, Pikachu. I'm so proud of you." Ash lifted his best friend and gave him a warm hug, while Pikachu returned the hug and cooed by his trainer's affection.

"You did great, Glaceon." May knelt down and petted Glaceon, patted her head softly and rubbing her neck with her soft, gentle hands while Glaceon loved every stroke she received from her trainer.

"How about we all go back and give this ticket back to Cid?" Brock suggested.

"Sure." Ash said as they all stood up while the three pokemon leapt from them and walked ahead of the group.

"Yeah, after this, let's go eat!" May shouted in joy as everyone laughed.

The gang retraced their steps back to the stadium, as the sun slowly set upon our heroes...

_To be continued…_

**------------**

**An awesome Advanceshipping moment, two rivals set aside their grudge against each other for a while to defeat their dreaded enemy, and then restart their rivalry it all over again with one kiss to the cheek. Pikachu is having those weird feelings again and how will he deal with this?...only time will tell  
**

**Stay tuned… **


	6. Chapter 6: Dreams

**English isn't my first language, so you'll find many errors there since I kinda suck at describing things especially houses, furniture and such. Also, this chapter was delayed due to the Christmas holidays. But it's finally finished right? I wish everyone a happy new year :D**

**--------**

**CHAPTER 6**

**Dreams**

**------**

Night has closed in on the Sinnoh region, as lights were turned on to help travelers and citizens alike in their ways, many have gone back to their respective places to call it a night.

Our heroes have returned the stolen prize ticket back to good hands, and completely registered themselves and their pokemon for the upcoming competition. Now, they're walking back to the town square with their three pokemon ahead of them.

"This has been one heck of a day, right guys?" The spiky-haired man said.

"Yeah, May came back, Ash had a battle with May and Paul, Team Rocket shows up and blasts off again, meeting Luke and Mary…" The blue-haired coordinator summarized their whole adventure.

"And don't forget the feast we had back there!" The brunette coordinator added and rubbed her stomach and stick out her tongue as everyone laughed.

"Where was I again? Oh right, Luke told us about the competition, Team Rocket stole the prize ticket, but Pikachu, Glaceon, and Buneary got it back without our help!" Dawn finished with her usual cheerful smile.

"Yeah, we owe it all to those three." Brock said.

Buneary and Glaceon looked back and happily cheered upon hearing their names being praised and went back to their usual evil glares at each other, while Pikachu seemed to ignore as he blankly walked ahead of the group.

"I wonder where we should spend the night?" Dawn asked.

"I just wonder when can we eat? I already miss the lunch we had back at Luke's place, especially the noodles, that was my favorite dish." May said and stick out her tongue, trying to remember how the noodles tasted like.

"Come on, let's go find some place to eat and spend the night." Brock said as they all agreed.

A few moments later, the gang found themselves at the town square, even though it's night time, it was still filled with people and shops were still opened displaying all sorts of merchandises.

"Hmm… where should we head first?" May asked the group as she looked around for any restaurant that might get her attention.

"Wait a minute, I think I see Luke, and also Mary!" Dawn said and pointed at the silver-haired owner of the five-star restaurant where they had their lunch, and their new black-haired friend.

The gang quickly went through the bustling crowds to try to catch up with the two while Pikachu, Buneary, and Glaceon easily passed through the crowds thanks to their small size, speed, and agility.

"Hey Luke-" Ash shouted before he got bumped in the face by a senior who didn't seem to pay attention to where he was going.

"Hmm?" Luke felt something tugging his navy blue jeans and turned around to see, and was surprised to see the three of them staring at him.

"Aren't you Ash's Pikachu?" Luke knelt down and pet Pikachu on the head as the pokemon smiled and nodded.

"Hey, isn't that Ash, May, Dawn, and Brock?" Mary asked as she pointed her finger at them still struggling to pass through the crowd.

A few moments later, they were all panting hard in front of the two who was confused.

"Hey Luke… good…to see you again…" Ash said while still taking in oxygen.

"Good to see you too, so, have you four registered yet?" Luke asked and stood up.

"Yeah we are, I'm going to enter Glaceon there." May proudly said as her ice-type pokemon nodded.

"And I'm going to enter Buneary." Dawn said and grabbed the rabbit pokemon to her arms.

"And Ash's gonna enter with Pikachu…" Luke said and grinned, it was pretty obvious that he'll going to say that next.

"How about you Brock?"

"I'm going to use Croagunk."

"Heh, so the upcoming competition's going to be interesting, right Mary?"

"Uh, yeah you're right." Mary hesitantly said.

"So Luke, where are you two going?" Ash asked.

"Back to my place, Mary hasn't had any place to stay in so I let her stay at my home. Hey, if you guys want to, you can all stay at my place." Luke suggested with a smile.

Everyone was stunned again by his hospitality, first the free, five-star meal they all had, and now he's offering them a place to stay?

"Uh Luke, we all love to, but is it kinda too much? You've already treated us back at your restaurant and-" Before Brock could finish, Luke raised his palm at his face, prompting him to stop.

"I told you before, it's no big deal. Besides, I hardly get any visitors at my place anyway, so you guys are welcome to stay there, come on, I insist." Luke said calmly with his warm smile still implanted on his face.

"But-"

"Come on, let's go." Luke started to walk ahead with Mary following behind as everyone else looked at each other with a confused look on their faces, except May of course, as she quickly followed Luke behind, clearly liking the idea.

Everyone shrugged their shoulders and quickly caught up with the three.

------

Luke led the gang towards his home, it was a really a long walk. But everyone didn't seem to care, as they were busy watching the beautiful moon above them, shedding light to the path they were walking in.

"So Mary, how long have you known Luke?" May opened a conversation to the black-haired woman, who seemed surprised at first by her sudden question. She already noticed her taking a liking to the silver-haired man, and being very fond of romance, well, you know the rest…

"Oh, I've known him since we were kids. And my Gardevoir and his Gallade were just Ralts back then."

"We were neighbors back then, so we usually sneak out from our house and play together with our pokemon, but sadly-" Mary slowly said.

"What? What happened?" May asked, clearly she was curious about their story.

"Luke's family hated pokemon, they wanted him to take over the family business… When he found a baby Ralts and took care of it, his parents found out and threatened to kill it if he didn't abandon it, so that's why he ran away from home, without even telling me…" Tears formed from Mary's eyes which she quickly brushed it away with her fingers.

"Oh…" May could only say as she stared back at the silver-haired man who seemed to be very happy, but inside this very successful man was a very difficult childhood.

"But I was confused back then…" Mary said.

"Why?"

"When Luke ran away, why didn't he come to my house instead? My parents and I could have helped him.

"You have a point…"

"But I'm kinda happy, although he doesn't remember me anymore; he grew up to be a fine, successful man, right?"

"Yeah, but how come he doesn't remember you at all?"

"I don't know, I tried telling and asking him about it but he seems to be confused, all he could remember was that he just ran away…"

May was only silent during the rest of the trip to Luke's home. She regretted asking her about it.

"But oh well, you can't force someone to remember anything, if he really doesn't remember, right?" Mary smiled at her, but May knew that deep inside, Mary was sad and lonely.

"So, here we are!" Luke said loudly, getting everyone's attention as he stood in front of a tall, golden gate.

"Whoa…"

Whoa indeed, inside the gate was a beautiful mansion, as the gate opened by itself and Luke went inside while everyone else hurried along.

"WAH!!!" May suddenly shouted as a ghost pokemon appeared in front of her, and then, a group of ghost pokemon all surrounded the gang.

"These are my ghost pokemon, say hi to our guests everybody." Luke said as they all called out their names while bowing down simultaneously.

"Cool, a Gastly, Haunter, Gengar, Duskull, Dusclops, Dusknoir, Shuppet… Wow, all of these ghost pokemon belong to you?" Brock asked.

"Yeap, come on guys, let's go inside." Luke called out and walked ahead of the group as the gang followed him behind while the ghost pokemon waved at them before going back to their own business.

The gang looked around the land around the mansion, it had a small lake, trees, a playground, large rocks which seemed like to be a pokemon paradise.

They were at the fountain in front of the entrance of the luxurious mansion. As Luke stopped and stared at the fountain, suddenly small water pokemon appeared and greeted him.

"Nice to see you all again, these are my guests, say hi."

Poliwag, Finneon, Feebas, Corsola and other small water pokemon all greeted them, as everyone else were amazed and also said hi.

A Magikarp, however, wildly flapped its fins and tail which splashed some water onto May's legs.

"WAH!" May shrieked by the cold water drenching her legs up to her shoes, plus with the cold temperature at night, her body quickly shivered.

"I'm so sorry about that, that's how Magikarp says hi. Let's go inside before you catch a cold."

Luke opened the door as everyone's eyes widened in surprise and amazement. It was completely beautiful and majestic, while another batch of pokemon were running around and playing together, and when they all saw their trainer and his guests, they all surrounded them, astonished.

"Let me show you to your room. You'll all be surprised when we get there." Luke said as he proceeded to the hallway as his pokemon cleared the path and everyone else followed him behind, confused on what was the surprise he's talking about.

-----

"Here we are." Luke stopped in front of a door and opened the knob and proceeded inside as everyone quickly followed, eager to see what was inside.

"Looks like you have new roommates." Luke suddenly said which made everyone look to who was he talking about.

Their eyes all widened in surprise to see the familiar lavender-haired trainer who was also shocked to see them as well.

"W-why are they here?!" Paul demanded an explanation, he never liked sharing a room with anyone.

"These are my guests and also your new roommates. And this is also a guest room for six people, so Ash, May, Dawn, Brock, Mary, and you will be sharing this room for as long as you like." Luke said with a wide smile as the lavender-haired trainer, lost at words and still couldn't believe this was happening to him.

Paul sighed deeply, trying to control himself and calmed himself down and looked around the guest room once more, yes there are six beds all right and he was going to share it with them.

"Fine. When's dinner anyway?" Paul said flatly and sat down on his bed which was closest to the door with his arms crossed while keeping that same old emotionless state on his face.

"After a few minutes I guess. I'll check on it and make sure it will be delicious for everyone. Why don't you give your 'new' roommates a tour around the room?" Luke gave him a wide grin, while Paul didn't like it very much.

"And how am I supposed to do that?!" Paul replied, shocked upon hearing that from Luke, and stared at him.

"Just repeat everything that I've said to you this morning, besides, you're not that forgetful right?" The silver-haired man replied with that smirk still on his face.

'He's really enjoying this, doesn't he?' The lavender-haired trainer said in his thoughts, but he never liked disappointing or getting on his bad side either.

"Fine" Paul stood up from his bed, cursing himself on why he agreed on that.

"Well, I'll leave you guys under Paul's care for a while." Luke said and proceeded to the door, but deep inside, he really is enjoying every moment of it.

Paul went to a door beside the entrance to their room as everyone cleared the path for him as he opened it, revealing a majestic bathroom inside while everyone was amazed again.

"This is the bathroom, and on the opposite side is another bathroom." Paul said flatly while pointing at the opposite side. The brunette coordinator, who was closest to the door, opened and saw an exact bathroom as well.

He closed the bathroom door and proceeded to his bed and pointed to the wall where there was a large square, he pressed on it with his hand, and immediately the square split open, revealing a closet.

"That's your closet, each bed has their own and that's it." Paul pressed on a button which was popped out and slowly the closet closed.

Then he pulled out a black pokedex from his pocket and began analyzing something.

"Well, what are you guys staring at?" Paul said flatly, clearly annoyed by those pairs of eyes looking at him.

Everyone looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders as Pikachu quickly ran towards the middle bed on their left and made himself comfortable, clearly this bed was now Ash's.

Brock claimed the bed opposite to Paul's and placed his backpack on the bed and opened the wall-closet by imitating what Paul did a while ago.

May and Mary quickly ran and claimed the beds closest to the window. Her Glaceon was the happiest since their bed was next to where Pikachu was.

Dawn, on the other hand, frowned, the only remaining bed unclaimed was next to Paul, she wasn't really comfortable being with him yet and her Buneary was cursing Glaceon who was lucky that her trainer claimed that bed first.

The ice-type pokemon saw this and stick out her tongue, further annoying Buneary.

The blue-haired coordinator sighed, she placed her yellow bag on the bed and opened the wall-closet just like everyone else did, while staring at the lavender-haired trainer for a short while who was still busy using his pokedex.

"I can't wait to start training tomorrow, right Pikachu?" Ash said to his best friend and long time companion, who completely agreed and made a striking pose with his fist high up in the air.

"Me too, I've just got to win, the ticket to the Sevii Islands, the food, the swimsuits…" May's mind went off to imagination land as she saw herself wearing different types of bikinis.

"You're right. The Sevii Islands is one of the world's renowned beach resorts, and also where the most gorgeous girls hang out…" Brock said and began to drool as his mind also went to imagination land, making himself surrounded by the hottest girls he could imagine.

"Stop imagining guys, me and Buneary will sweep the competition with our new moves." Dawn said as she and her Buneary made a striking pose together.

"Don't forget that you have to deal with me and my Gardevoir first, Dawn. And we're no pushover." Mary replied with a wink and relaxed herself in her bed.

It's been a very long while since she lied on a bed like this.

'Couldn't this get any worse.' Paul, who felt like an outcast, said in his thoughts as the gang continued to talk about the competition and bragging about it like some kids.

"So Paul, what pokemon are you going to use?" Ash suddenly asked the lavender-haired trainer, shocking everybody as they all stared at him, while Paul sighed deeply in annoyance.

"That's… none of your business…" Paul said flatly and continued analyzing his pokedex.

"What's his problem?" Ash asked himself, confused and annoyed by his harsh statement after asking him kindly. Everyone too didn't like his cold personality, well except Dawn of course, looking at him concerned on why was he acting like that.

Suddenly, they heard loud knocks from the door and immediately opened.

"Dinner's ready guys." Luke said with a smile as Paul quickly stood up and left the room, leaving the silver-haired trainer also confused.

"What's his problem?"

-----------

Luke led them to the dining room, as they were amazed yet again by the marvelous furniture, lighting, and such, plus it was huge.

"Hey, you can let your pokemon out if you want." Luke said as he proceeded to the long dinner table.

"Really, Luke? Thanks, you hear that guys, it's chow time!" Ash thanked him and pulled out his pokeballs and threw it to the air, revealing his team while May, Dawn, and Brock also called out their pokemon.

"Luke, is it really okay?" Mary asked Luke.

"Sure it is, I'll even show you my team, come out guys." Luke smirked and called out his pokemon, immediately rays of light shot out from his pocket and revealed his pokemon team: Gallade, Steelix, Zangoose, Charizard, Froslass, and Raichu. They all cheered together and gave their trainer one big group hug.

"Whoa." Ash and Paul said simultaneously as they were really amazed by his team, who all looked very powerful.

Mary smiled and threw three pokeballs to the air, revealing her Gardevoir, Pidgeot, and Mismagius. Shocking that there were only three, but all of them looked strong and experienced.

"Come on Paul, don't be shy. Let your pokemon out too." Luke lightly slapped Paul's back as the lavender-haired trainer sighed and called out his pokemon.

"This already looks like a big party, come on guys, let's all have a seat." The silver haired man said and proceeded to the long dinner table.

Luke sat in the end of the long table while Paul sat beside him, everyone else followed. Brock and Mary sat on Paul's side, while the three on the other side were occupied by May, Ash, and Dawn.

Luke raised his arms and clapped twice, then, a big door opened behind Luke as his pokemon went towards the table with large trays of food balanced on their arms, as the gang prepared themselves for another big feast.

----------

Everyone inside the dining room were busy munching their meals, Pikachu couldn't help but look around the other pokemon.

The yellow-mouse pokemon stared at the long dinner table where his trainer and the others were eating.

Ash and May were busy eating every bit of food in their vicinity with no manners at all, as leftovers can easily be seen near their mouth. Brock and Mary ate decently while tolerating the two's terrible behavior.

Then he caught sight of Dawn looking at Paul, who was eating rather slowly with his eyes closed, carefully slicing his food with his knife in small amounts and chewed it with his mouth followed by a wipe with a white handkerchief, just like a gentleman in a formal party.

Then, Pikachu looked around the other pokemon, starting at Luke's team. His eyes were set to Gallade he watched battle this morning, and next to him was the Gardevoir that belonged to Mary, who was talking to him.

He then looked at Mary's two pokemon who were whispering amongst themselves while staring at Gardevoir and sharing a few laughs while Gardevoir clearly understood what they meant telepathically and blushed and gave them a mean look.

Pikachu continued munching down a few more morsels to his mouth and then looked around Dawn's pokemon team. His eyes caught sight of the fluffy bunny pokemon who noticed and looked at him, then she blushed and gave him a cute wink.

Then, he felt that unusual feeling…

Pikachu blushed and looked away, then turning his head slightly and peeked a bit, Buneary was still staring at him, he looked away and nervously ate his food. He could feel that Buneary was still looking at him.

The electric-type pokemon found himself unable to look back and was now staring at May's pokemon team.

His eyes quickly met with a pair of deep sapphire eyes. Pikachu was surprised that it was Glaceon's eyes he was staring at. Glaceon gave him a cute smile which made him blush again and look away.

Now that unusual feeling went back again. He looked back and Glaceon was still staring at him. He really regretted doing this, he began to feel nervous, as he continued to eat his food while trying to pay no attention to the two.

Glaceon and Buneary soon stared at each other, and was now sending each other glares and silent growls, curses and such as sparks from their eyes which was visible only to them clashed in mid-air.

----------

After the delicious feast, and their bellies filled. The gang was about to recall their pokemon back until…

"Glae, glae!" Glaceon shook her head repeatedly when May raised her pokeball at her, ready to recall her back.

"Bun! Bun!" Buneary was also doing the same, not wanting to go back to her pokeball when Dawn pointed the pokeball at her.

"Strange, why is Glaceon acting like that?" May asked with a confused look on her face.

"Buneary is also acting the same." Dawn said.

"It looks like they don't want to go back to their pokeballs yet, why don't you let them spend the night at your bed." Brock crossed his arms, correctly understanding what the two were trying to say as they both nodded in unison and made adorable smiles which tempted them to let them stay out of their pokeballs for a while.

"Oh, I see, okay Glaceon. You can stay out of your pokeball for as long as you like." May said to her devilishly with a smirk on her face, she now knew what Glaceon was thinking who blushed and looked away, embarrassed.

"You can stay out of your pokeball too Buneary, just like Pikachu does." Dawn said, she also understood what her pokemon was thinking while the rabbit pokemon cheered and blushed lightly.

The gang went back to the guest room and saw the lavender-haired trainer leaving the bathroom while rubbing his dampened hair with a towel; he just finished taking a shower and was wearing a white sweater and black shorts.

Paul ignored them as he went to his bed, sat down and continued drying his hair. Everyone else minded their own business; then they all hurriedly grabbed their PJs and raced each other to who gets to the bathroom first.

Everyone finished taking a shower and changed into their PJs, but they weren't still ready to sleep.

Pikachu struck up with a conversation with the two rivals as the two faked to agree with each other, but deep inside, they want Pikachu for themselves.

May, Mary, and Dawn went to Mary's bed and talked about some girly stuff and such while Ash and Brock made their own conversation.

Paul, on the other hand, was trying his best to tolerate the loud noise coming from his roommates, and covered his ear with his pillow, soon his blanket.

Finally, he couldn't take much longer and rose up from his bed.

"WILL YOU GUYS SHUT UP?! IT'S ALREADY 11PM AND I'M TRYING TO SLEEP!" Paul shouted in anger and pointed at the digital alarm clock above the door of their room while everyone else was stunned and shocked.

Paul then lied down again with his face looking at the door, away from anyone else. He could hear them mumble about him, as he rolled his eyes and closed it.

"Yeah guys, it's already late. Let's hit the sack." Brock yawned and stretched his arms as everyone agreed and went back to their beds.

"Paul, can you switch off the light?" Dawn calmly asked him, since he was the closest to the switch that was beside the door to their room.

"…Do it yourself." Paul said flatly as he didn't even move from his position, clearly comfortable and didn't like to get up.

"What a true gentleman you are." Dawn said sarcastically and rolled her eyes and switched the lights off herself, irritated that Paul is acting like his usual self, a jerk.

The light coming from the moon helped Dawn navigate her way back to her bed, and then everyone shared 'good nights' with each other which annoyed Paul more.

-----------

Pikachu suddenly woke up after finding himself lying on the floor beside Ash's bed. He could still feel pain from the sudden hit he took from his trainer, probably from his feet.

He tried to climb back again, but his face met with his foot again as Ash stretched his whole body while still in a deep snooze.

Pikachu, rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, there was no way he could sleep in there and decided to sleep in somebody else's bed.

He looked at Brock's bed, hopefully he could sleep there undisturbed.

"Oh Nurse Joy…" Brock mumbled to himself as he hugged his pillow tightly and rubbing his cheek with it, while drools could be seen from his face.

Pikachu quickly took that back, fearing he could be the pillow Brock will suddenly hug.

He went towards May's bed, and saw the brunette coordinator sleeping peacefully with a few mumbles of 'tasty' and 'delicious'. She was clearly dreaming of food. Pikachu stared at Glaceon who was curled up in her sleep, calmly snoozing.

Lucky her, her trainer wasn't rowdy and move much when sleeping. Suddenly, he stared at her mouth, which was inhaling and exhaling deeply, then weird thoughts came to his mind.

Maybe, this wasn't a good idea. Pikachu then went to Dawn's bed and looked up. He was quickly surprised to look at Buneary's face only a few inches away from him as she was sleeping at the edge of the bed.

He got a close look on her face, then he suddenly blushed and moved away from Dawn's bed. His back hit another bed, and looked up and realized that it was Paul's bed.

Paul was only occupying one side of the bed, he was still in that same position when he went to sleep, leaving the other side of the bed, a big space for him to sleep.

Pikachu was getting really sleepy and curled himself to usual position and slowly dozed off.

----ZzzzZzzzzz-----

Pikachu slowly woke up and opened his eyes, but he was surprised that his surroundings were pitch black, he couldn't see his trainer, or even the bed he was sleeping on.

He stood up and looked around, but still nothing so he decided to walk instead while keeping an eye to anything he might see through the darkness surrounding him.

A few minutes have passed, but still there was no sign of anything, it made Pikachu frustrated and lonely, he already missed Ash, that stubborn happy-go-lucky guy. He sat down and sighed, seeing that this walk was already meaningless and a waste of his energy.

But something caught his eye, from a distance in front of him was a faint light, which was already a good motivation for Pikachu as he quickly ran from his seat and towards the light. But something was wrong, the light doesn't seem to get closer in his view as it seems like he wasn't moving at all.

Pikachu stopped, seeing another attempt failed in trying to figure out what was going on. He sat down and closed his eyes and gave deep breaths. He quickly became sleepy and was about to doze off to sleep until his ears twitched, quickly sensing something.

He opened his eyes and saw an ice-type fox pokemon, with that deep sapphire eyes and warm smile, he quickly realized that it was Glaceon. Pikachu tried to move, but his body suddenly stopped functioning, he couldn't move a finger.

Glaceon slowly moved closer towards Pikachu while deep red blushes can be seen from her cheeks as her face were only a few inches away from Pikachu, who was sweating hard, as his mind recalled back at the pokemon center where their faces were only inches apart.

Before Pikachu could think further, Glaceon moved in and gave her crush a kiss to the lips, Pikachu was shocked and tried to break free, but he couldn't even move or turn his head. Glaceon moved closer with her lips still pressing against his, pushing Pikachu to the floor.

Pikachu soon blushed and that unusual feeling kicked in again, but this time, it was far greater and his heart was pounding faster than before, he looked at Glaceon who was on top of him, her eyes was shut and her lips was still intact with his. He never felt anything like this before, but somehow… it feels…good.

Glaceon moved her lips, playfully biting Pikachu's, and soonafter, Pikachu's lips moved on its own as his lips was now doing the same. Pikachu closed his eyes while enjoying every moment of the kiss, tasting each other while their mouths and chins were covered with saliva.

He felt like he was in heaven, as they continued kissing each other. But he felt something entered his mouth, it was soft, warm, moist and was wiggling inside his mouth. He realized that she put her tongue inside his mouth, now that was something Pikachu wasn't prepared. He quickly opened his eyes but only to be shocked from the sight.

Instead of seeing Glaceon, he could see was Buneary kissing him. He tried to talk to her to stop this, which tickled her. She did stopped and pulled her head back as traces of saliva could be seen from their mouths, Pikachu panted really hard, and was still stunned, but she giggled and licked her mouth and gave Pikachu a smile and kissed him again.

Her tongue entered his mouth again, while Pikachu's body still refused to move, he tried his best to wriggle free but still no avail. He closed his eyes in desperation and charged up his body as wild sparks came out from his sacs, thankfully, he could still use this.

"PIIKAACCHHUUU!!!" Pikachu unleashed a powerful Thunderbolt, hoping this ordeal would finally end.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" A loud scream followed as Pikachu stopped upon hearing that sound which was followed with a large 'thud'.

Pikachu finally woke up and saw himself on top of a partially scorched bed. He looked around and saw a lavender-haired man lying face-first on the floor with a burnt blanket around him.

"What was that?!" A female voice shouted as everyone else woke up after hearing the loud noise.

"What's going on?" A loud voice came from the door, as it quickly opened and revealed a silver-haired man wearing a black sweater and jogging pants as he opened the lights.

Luke looked around the room and quickly saw Paul with his clothes and blanket partially burnt as his body twitched while everyone was also surprised to see Paul on the floor.

"Paul, why are sleeping on the floor?" Dawn asked and gave out a yawn while rubbing her eyes.

The lavender-haired trainer quickly rose up and looked at his bed, surprised and angry to see a yellow-rodent pokemon rubbing the back of his bed and giving him a nervous smile and ran back towards his trainer's bed.

"WHAT THE HELL IS PIKACHU DOING ON MY BED?!" Paul shouted, as everyone were also surprised as well.

"Hey Ash, shouldn't Pikachu be on your bed instead of Paul's?" The spiky haired trainer asked.

"Beats me, why are you sleeping on Paul's bed, Pikachu?" Ash scratched the back of his head while Pikachu roleplayed Ash as he lied on his back, loudly snoring and moving his body, trying to show everyone what happened.

"I think I figured it out, Pikachu slept on Paul's bed because Ash was snoring so loud and moving around in his sleep too much." May said as Pikachu nodded, at least she got the idea.

"But why Paul's bed?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah, he could've chose May or Dawn's, right?" Brock asked while putting his hand on his chin.

"Yeah, why me?!"

Pikachu was suddenly stunned and gave Glaceon and Buneary a quick glance and quickly looked away, blushing as he quickly remembered the weird dream he had.

May and Dawn noticed Pikachu looking at their pokemon and giggled, now they both understood why Pikachu didn't sleep on their beds instead of Paul's while their pokemon looked at them and gave confused looks instead.

"I don't really know what happened here, but since you folks are awake, why don't all of us have a jog around the town, what do you say?" Luke suggested as everyone stared at him, wearing that outfit.

"But it's still 5:38!" May complained while pointing at the digital clock above the door.

"What's wrong with the time? I'm already awake around 5am. Besides, nothing beats a good jog to work an appetite and also good for training as well as your health." Luke replied while smiling, ignoring the fact that all of them were still sleepy, their hairs were all messed up and they just woke up.

Ash liked the idea already as he rose up from his bed and stretched, thinking of a very delicious breakfast Luke would whip out for them.

"I'll come back in around ten minutes, be sure to get changed and ready by that time." Luke said and closed the door, leaving everyone stunned and confused, all sighed eventually while Paul stood up and took out some clothes from his closet, and headed straight to the bathroom.

Mary quickly took out some clothes from her closet and quickly went to the other bathroom before the others could even move at all. Dawn shrieked as she touched her long blue hair, took out a comb from her closet and headed straight towards the mirror. Brock pulled out some clothes from his closet and proceeded to change inside his blanket while Ash did the same.

Glaceon and Buneary quickly went towards Pikachu and struck a conversation while he faked a smile and kept his distance from the two. May, on the other hand, wasn't energized just like everybody else, she pulled her legs closer and placed her head on her knees, she still wanted to go to sleep.

"This will be another long day is it?…"

_To be continued…_

**-----------**

**Luke's hospitality again amazed our heroes, free food and free lodging. Well, not for Paul's sake though, while Pikachu is having a trouble on his again…**

**Will Paul and Pikachu pull through this ordeal?**

**Stay tuned and find out!**


	7. Chapter 7: Training

**-----------**

**CHAPTER 7**

**Training**

**-----------**

Another great and exciting day greets our heroes as they were all eager for the upcoming tournament.

"Man, early in the morning, and I'm already bathing in sweat…" The brunette coordinator complained.

However, this day wasn't exactly exciting for May, being dead last from the group as they jogged around Luke's mansion for a few laps with the courtesy of him leading the group and the crazy idea. The rest of the group did manage to keep up with his pace.

Luke led the gang to a cliff very near to his house. Everyone was perspiring and breathing heavily after the jog, thankfully, this was the end of the session.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Luke said as he placed his arms on a wooden white fence overlooking the sunrise, and just beneath them, waves of clear, blue water splashed beneath the cliff from where they stood.

The gang joined him and stared at the magnificent view of nature, greeting them with a refreshing sunrise with several flying pokemon already flying across the horizon while May just arrived with her legs barely walking anymore.

Mary looked at her childhood friend, who unfortunately, couldn't remember her before, with happiness, he really matured into a fine, handsome, and very successful man, the morning breeze passed through the group as the wind made his silver hair sway and shine beautifully, which made her blush deeply.

"So how about a few more rounds before we eat?" Luke broke the silence with his usual smile, which made everyone whine and react so fast.

"WHAT?! I just got here and we're gonna jog again?!" May, who has the biggest reaction, protested loudly, as everyone stared at her sweaty and tired figure.

"The problem with you is that you lack exercise May, even your Glaceon beat you." Luke replied, clearly ignoring her state while her ice-type pokemon could only blush in embarrassment.

She did manage to keep up with Luke's pace along with Pikachu and Buneary, while Pikachu cheered for her which made her blush deeply, Buneary, however, didn't enjoy one bit of that attention and praise she got, especially from Pikachu.

"The reason I made you guys jog around my house is for your training for the tournament. Trainers must be able to concentrate and keep their focus while being challenged with physical conditions, this helps the trainer to make decisions quickly with ease with their pokemon." Luke explained, while most of them finally understood, this wasn't just his usual routine; it was also training as well.

"Oh, I didn't know about that, I'm sorry…" May felt ashamed.

"Nah, it's okay. You must be very hungry anyway, c'mon, let's head back. One more round." Luke replied and quickly jogged back to his place with Paul and Mary quickly following behind, the pokemon also jogged alongside, while Ash, Brock, and Dawn gave a long breath before joining the group.

May felt like her legs would collapse at any second, her joy a while ago upon hearing breakfast changed to disappointment when he wanted one more round of jogging before going back, although he said this was good for trainers like her, she really couldn't keep up anymore.

"Hey May, you alright? Can you still jog?" Ash suddenly asked her, startling and interrupting her thoughts.

"No and no! As much as I like to Ash, but my legs couldn't take it anymore." May replied and tried to sit down, but her legs suddenly gave in, and gave her butt a rough landing.

"Ow, ow, ow…" May said while she slowly stood up again while her shaking legs tried to keep her up while wiping her butt with her hands to remove the dirt from the soil.

"Are you alright, May? If you want to, you can just walk back to Luke's place. I know he wouldn't mind. I'll even accompany you back." Ash suggested and gave her his usual cheerful smile. She did miss that smile that had always inspired her to achieve.

"O-okay…" She just said while blushing upon hearing his statement. She slowly walked back to the foot of the cliff with Ash alongside her for support in any case that might happen should she stumble or trip along the way back.

Suddenly, she did trip, but before meeting dirt with her face, her body was suddenly stopped with a strong and firm force, May realized that Ash moved quickly in front of her and grabbed her shoulders while his body suppressed the weight, preventing the rough fall.

"Are you okay, May?" Ash asked while trying to carry the coordinator's weight while maintaining his balance while May, who was now leaning on his body, was stunned by how fast Ash acted to save her from falling, she slowly pushed herself slowly from him.

"T-thank you, Ash." May managed to say, while deeper blushes formed on her cheeks and quickly covered it with her hands, her heart was beating fast, and now her whole body began shaking as thoughts entered her mind again.

"Can you still walk?" Ash asked her as she looked at him and nodded before looking away. May began to walk slowly and carefully while Ash followed her pace to make sure she was safe.

"Can I put my hand on your shoulder, just in case if I fall again…" May asked while blushing embarrassingly.

"Of course." Ash nodded and smiled at her which made her blush more deeply again, she slowly put her hand at his shoulder and placed a firm grip onto it for support as the two slowly made their way back to Luke's mansion, while May could think of was that scene from that same romance story where the man offered himself to the woman whom he shared his first kiss with, as the woman who had sprained her feet when walking around her garden as the two went back with the woman leaning against the man for support.

Although May wasn't sprained, she could tell that scene was similar to this.

-------------

The two entered the house, finally for the two, upon greeted by the pokemons owned by Luke, the scent of food quickly caught their noses, as it quickly gave them energy to speed up their walk towards the dining room, even though they were late and everyone must be eating right now.

They entered the dining room where the scent of food was coming from, they were surprised to see everyone not on the table and eating already, but doing their own business.

Dawn and Brock were grooming their pokemon, Luke and Mary were staring at the huge window, enjoying the view while talking with each other, and Paul, who was leaning against the wall while staring at the window also.

"What took you guys so long?" Brock, the first one to notice them, said, getting the attention of everybody inside the dining room as they all went and greeted them, well except for Paul though.

"Sorry about that guys, May's got a problem walking back since her legs was tired so I helped her just in case anything may happen." Ash explained.

"That usually happens when you jog like that for the first time, after a few more days or a week maybe, and you'll get used to it." Luke said, leaving everyone shocked again, jogging every morning.

"So why is May still holding on your shoulder?" Brock asked while raising an eyebrow as May realized that she was still placing her hand on his shoulder, she quickly pulled her hand as the two blushed in embarrassment, her legs were feeling better now but still she didn't remove her hand on his shoulder for no apparent reason.

"I dunno, so why are you guys aren't eating yet? You could go ahead if you want to…" Ash asked, surprised to see no one yet eating.

"Breakfast can't be enjoyed if we're incomplete, right? C'mon, let's eat everybody." Luke said and went towards the long dining table and everyone else took their seats, Luke clapped his hands loudly and pokemon carrying trays of food came from the kitchen door, and everybody was eager to see what breakfast it is.

Omelette, an egg dish with tomatoes, onions, shrimps and other ingredients, smells heavenly and tastes great, coupled with freshly baked corn bread, and lastly orange juice that is ice-cold with a perfect taste, great for refreshing a worn-out body and start your day as glutton Ash and hungry May quickly took a bite from the omelette dish and the bread as soon as they placed it on their table.

"Ah, nothing beats food!" May said as she finished eating the last piece of her omelette and corn bread and drank her orange juice, although, it wasn't 'all you can eat' back in dinner, the breakfast was more than enough to fill her belly for many hours.

"Hey Ash, you're going to enter the Sinnoh league right?" Luke asked and finished his glass of orange juice followed by a refreshing 'ahh'.

"Uh yeah. I'm aiming to be a Pokemon Master." Ash said it proudly, it was his goal after all.

"I can help you train if you want to." Luke said as he wiped his mouth with a tissue.

"R-really?! That would be great!" Ash jumped for joy.

"So Luke, I've been wondering, were you a pokemon trainer or a coordinator back then?" Dawn asked as everyone stared at the silver-haired man, and was very curious of his answer.

"Actually, both." He said flatly.

"Really? That's so amazing! So, have you won any pokemon leagues and grand festivals?" Dawn continued, wanting to know more about his achievements.

"Why don't I show you guys later, besides, not everyone has finished eating yet you know." Luke replied while crossing his arms and smirked as everyone stared at themselves, they've just finished eating, Ash and May were always the first ones, followed by Luke, Dawn, Brock, and Mary, now who hasn't finished eating yet?

They all stared at the remaining person who was still eating: Paul, with one-third of his omelette still left. He's been eating at a slow pace since dinner, getting a small slice and chewing it slowly while he closed his eyes and continued eating, trying his best to ignore the attention he was getting while blushes of embarrassment formed from his face.

-----------------

"Wow…" Ash could only murmur as Luke led the gang to his trophy case inside his bedroom. He had won the Battle Frontier, every trophy of the Pokemon League Champion in every region: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh and also their gym badges and respective ribbons as well as the ribbon cups from Grand Festivals. And in every trophy cup lays a picture frame of him along with each region's natives.

"And you won all of this on your own, Luke?" May asked while the magnificent display of the contest trophies stunned her completely.

"Yep. But don't forget my pokemon, they're the ones who really deserve the credit. Ahh, the good old days." Luke replied as he stretched his arms out wide, recalling those glorious moments he had with his pokemon.

The gang stared at the trophies, plaques, badges, symbols, and ribbons once more, their marvelous design and quality dazzled everybody, all the achievements he made that would make almost anyone envious.

"Now, enough about that, let's have training." Luke said and led the gang out of his room, locking it by placing his hand with an automated device as the machinery showed a large 'locked' sign, showing the door is locked and cannot be opened, and went to the hallway with the group following behind.

"Hey Luke…" The lavender-haired trainer went up to his side and asked.

"Hmm, what is it Paul?" Luke said, wondering why he suddenly asked him.

"How did you do it? What are your methods?" Paul asked in a serious tone.

"Uhh… what do you mean exactly?" Luke became confused.

"Those trophies, how did you win all of those, surely you have some strategy or some kind of training that made your pokemon stronger, can you teach me?" Paul continued, his face becoming more serious, wanting to find some answers on how to win those trophies, clearly in his state, he was jealous of him.

"I don't know if you'll believe me, but there are no special methods or training that made my pokemon strong, I just did the same just like most of the trainers you see everyday." Luke flatly said, leaving Paul confused and somehow disappointed, he was expecting some different kinds of answers from him.

"You're confused right? Heh, everytime I say that, your reaction is the same like everyone else who wanted to know my methods." Luke smirked.

"Do you know the saying, "Trust your pokemon, care for them, love them and become one with them. In return, they will trust you, care for you, love you, and become one with you."?" Luke asked.

"Uhh… yeah, I remember someone telling me that when I got defeated by her again…" Paul said, recalling that event where he was defeated again by the same person who sweeped his team with only one pokemon.

Cynthia, the Sinnoh league champion, her long blonde hair and black coat made her a majestic image among fans, and her Garchomp was no pushover, defeating each of Paul's pokemon again just in one attack, making his previous match with her the same again.

"Cynthia, right?"

"H-how do you know?" Paul was stunned, it's like he knew who was on his mind.

"She was the one who told that to me when she beat me once with her ace pokemon, Garchomp."

"But did you finally beat her?"

"It was a draw, but she said that I won, telling me that I fully understood Pokemon. First I was confused, since what I did was mainly tactics."

"Tactics?"

"You know what I mean, analyzing the strength and weaknesses of the pokemon you see in front of you, the usual strategy in wars and battles. But in pokemon, there's a different story."

"I really can't explain well, but if you fully know and understand their traits, nature and such of each pokemon, it's like you can read them by merely looking at them, what happened to them, their moves, you know, Psychology but pokemon is the subject." Luke continued to explain while scratching his head, trying to give the appropriate and easier words that are much easier to understand.

"Just like in pokemon battles, you see the trainer in them, it's like you already know what to expect from them and anticipate their every move while you analyze their weakness… It's confusing, I know." Luke chuckled to himself, while Paul, on the other hand, tried his best to analyze and understanding every word he said.

Luke stopped from their walk and found themselves outside his house, realizing that they were already at the destination while they were busy talking. He turned around to see if the rest of the group was still behind him, but much to his surprise, everyone was very close to them, clearly eavesdropping in their conversation.

"So do you guys understand anything from what I said earlier?" Luke just smiled at them as they quickly moved away from the two and made clueless faces.

"Uhh, yeah, you lost me…" Ash confessed while he scratched the back of his head.

"Seeing the trainer from their pokemon…" May said to herself as she put her hand on her chin, thinking deeply about what that statement really meant

"For starters, you need to consult the Bulbapedia, I have a dozens of volumes back there which each of them shows all the features, traits, nature, possible moves each specific pokemon can learn, everything. If you know and familiarize every characteristic each pokemon has, you can read them like an open book, and everything else what I said earlier becomes a lot easier to understand, and that maybe is the easiest understandable advice I can give to all of you." Luke said, leaving Ash and May still confused and stunned, Dawn, Paul, and Brock deep in thought, and Mary nodded in agreement.

"But enough of this, training is still one of the most basic and important things trainers should do. So why don't we have a practice match with each other?" Luke said with his usual smile, finally something that Ash and May truly understand and agree on.

"Hey Luke, can Pikachu and I have a battle with you?" Ash quickly rushed towards him and asked, clenching his fists with his face full of determination.

"Sure. While the others can choose their own sparring partners I guess, but there's seven of us, and that will leave one." Luke shrugged his shoulders.

"Wait I know, why don't I have a double battle with two people, and the rest can have their own one-on-one battles then." Luke suggested.

"Well I will have a one-on-one battle with Mary, well if that's okay with you?" May raised her hand and stared at her chosen battle partner.

"Of course it is, I also want to see how you battle with your pokemon." Mary smiled and nodded.

"So Ash, who will be your partner then?" Luke asked.

"Hmmm… how about you Brock? Care to join us?" Ash looked around the remaining choices, Brock, Paul and Dawn, and finally choosing his life-long friend since the start of his pokemon journey as his partner for the double battle for today.

"Sure, I guess." Brock shrugged his shoulders and smirked.

"And that leaves Paul and Dawn. Have fun, you two." Luke chuckled as he went to the farther side of the field where they can have their battle while the two's jaws opened wide in surprise, especially Dawn's, how could she put up a fight with a strong trainer like Paul, while he wasn't really expecting to be battling her.

"Oh yeah, before a pokemon receives a serious injury, the match will be immediately over, okay? We don't want our pokemon to be wounded before the tournament even begins." Luke warned the group.

The group agreed as they separated into three sides, May and Mary, and Dawn and Paul for the single battle, and Ash and Brock vs Luke for a double battle. They went to their respective sides of the wide open field and pulled out their pokeballs.

"Gardevoir, time to shine!" "Glaceon, take the stage!" May and Mary called out their pokemon. Gardevoir made her entrance by spinning herself first before levitating while Glaceon did a double flip before touching the ground, showing off some contest moves before the match starts.

"Well, May, show me what you got." Mary said to her partner as the battle between psychic and ice will now commence.

"Pikachu, I choose you!" "Croagunk, you're up." Ash and Brock called out their pokemon, showing their lineup of electric and poison, as they made a battle shout before doing their battle stances.

"Zangoose and Dusknoir, showtime!" Luke crossed his arms and called out his pokemon without even pulling out their pokeballs. Instantaneously, two white rays of light came out from his pocket and revealed his normal and ghost type pokemon for the double battle.

"Wait, I don't recall you having Zangoose and Dusknoir on your team before?" Ash suddenly asked.

"Yeah, I like to change the lineup of my team everyday, it's a habit of mine." Luke chuckled.

"This will be a tough battle Ash, those two looks very strong." Brock whispered to his partner.

"Heh, our pokemon are strong too, you know." Ash replied with a smirk, caring nothing less even if their opponents maybe a lot stronger than theirs, that's what made pokemon battles so exciting for him.

"You're right about that Ash, let's go!" Brock said as the two nodded in unison and made the first move.

"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" "Buneary, spotlight!" Paul and Dawn called out their pokemon. Electabuzz let out a loud roar which intimidated its opponent.

"C'mon Buneary, we can do this, no need to worry!" Dawn knelt down and cheered her pokemon up as Buneary regained her confidence and gave a determined look and leaped forward. Paul, however, was disinterested in this battle but remained quiet.

"You may have the first move." Paul said flatly.

Fine then, Buneary, let's go!"

------------

_*Now for the long part of this chapter :D, but I will skip it to the end of each battle…*_

"Glaceon, Shadow Ball!" May ordered as Glaceon opened her mouth and shot a dark ball of energy at its opponent.

'Psychic' Mary telepathically ordered to Gardevoir, as her pokemon's eyes glowed brightly, enveloping the Shadow Ball attack with psychic energy, completely stopping it before it even reached her.

'Dammit' May cursed, Glaceon was wearing out from unleashing most of her attacks to Gardevoir who simply stopped almost every one of it with ease.

'Now send it right back.' Mary ordered as Gardevoir shot the Shadow Ball attack back at her opponent while Glaceon positioned herself to the ground, awaiting any orders from her trainer.

"Now use Mirror Coat!" May ordered as Glaceon's body became enveloped with bright energy which looked like mini diamonds dazzling, Glaceon intercepted the Shadow Ball attack with her head and struggled a bit as the Shadow Ball did some damage to her first before she finally sent it right back to Gardevoir at an amazing speed and amplified power.

'Psybeam, hurry!' Mary felt scared a bit before ordering an attack as Gardevoir's eyes glowed purple and green and shot rays of psychic energy at the incoming Shadow Ball before it came into contact to her.

The Shadow Ball exploded, but unfortunately, the blast affected Gardevoir since she was close to it when it exploded which knocked her back a bit.

"Now use Secret Power!" May, seeing this as a good opportunity to strike, ordered an attack. Glaceon's whole body now glowed brightly pink as she sprinted towards her opponent who was still recovering from the blast.

"Gardevoir watch out!" Mary shouted to her pokemon, while Gardevoir was still holding her head, not yet recovered from the blast, and as she opened her eyes, Glaceon was only merely a foot away from her.

Glaceon hit Gardevoir's abdomen with her head, causing the air to be taken out from her while the impact push her back fiercefully, and an added effect, wild sparkles formed around Glaceon's body and her eyes became different, making her confused.

"Now finish it up with Ice Beam!" May ordered another attack which would hopefully finish and win this match, Glaceon opened its mouth and channeled a white orb of energy, she then released it in the form of crooked Ice Beams aimed directly at her disoriented opponent.

"Calm Mind!" Mary now shouted an attack desperately, trying to call out to Gardevoir, fortunately for them, Gardevoir heard her and channeled up energy as her body glowed white brightly, increasing her special attack and defense at the same time, which hopefully, would help in enduring the power of the incoming attack.

The Ice Beam attack hit its mark, as Gardevoir screamed in pain, although the power have lessened, it still hurt her badly. She panted heavily and looked at her opponent who was at a great advantage up to this point.

"Great job May, I got to admit I got careless back there." Mary called out to May.

"Hey, thanks a lot." May replied.

"But this isn't over yet, Gardevoir, use Recover!" Mary smirked and called out a move, as Gardevoir's body glowed brightly yellow, her wounds, scratches, and bruises slowly disappeared, as if nothing happened at all.

"What, no way…" May was surprised, but she gritted her teeth, she almost beat her, and since her Gardevoir knows Recover, she needs to finish her before she can even use that move.

'I thought that you'd never make me use Recover…' Gardevoir said to her trainer telepathically and gave her an annoyed look which made Mary chuckle a bit.

'Sorry, but can we get back to the fight? I really want us to win this you know' Mary said, eager for the match to continue.

'I just hope you know what you're doing next time…' Gardevoir rolled her eyes before looking back at her opponent, who was also glaring at her intently.

"Fine, Glaceon, charge in and use Secret Power!" May ordered an attack as Glaceon's body glowed brightly pink and sprinted towards Gardevoir.

'Psybeam' Mary told to her pokemon telepathically as Gardevoir's eyes glowed and shot out bright purple and green rays of energy and intercepted with Glaceon. A huge explosion occurred, covering their battle field with dust and white, thick smoke.

Suddenly, Glaceon came out from the smoke with her body still glowing pink, Psybeam didn't manage to cancel her attack as Glaceon leaped towards Gardevoir for another strike.

'Psychic!' Mary said as Gardevoir's body glowed brightly and she raised her hands, suddenly, Glaceon went to a complete stop mid-air as psychic energy enveloped her body and slowly her Secret Power subsided as the pink energy disappeared, and slowly Psychic was doing its damage as Glaceon hissed in pain.

"Glaceon, try and use Ice Shards!" May said as Glaceon struggled to move her head aiming towards her opponent and then opened her mouth widely and unleashed a barrage of ice shards towards Gardevoir.

'Use Psychic again!' Mary ordered as Gardevoir concentrated more energy to try to halt and control the Ice Shards, but trying to control both at the same time was very hard and tiring to do, she tried her best and managed to use Psychic, but a few Ice Shards hit their mark, causing a great deal of pain to Gardevoir.

Immediately her hold on Glaceon was interrupted as the bright energy that enveloped her body and stopped her movement had subsided and now was another opportunity to strike while Gardevoir tried to focus herself through the pain she's having right now.

"C'mon, let's finish this with Shadow Ball, then follow up with Iron Tail!" May shouted as Glaceon took a deep breath, then opened her mouth as a dark ball of energy came out from her and headed towards her opponent quickly, then she sprinted as her tail glowed brightly, charging up her Iron Tail attack.

"C'mon, Gardevoir, use Calm Mind, then Psychic!" Mary shouted in concern as Gardevoir channeled up energy again, she closed her eyes and concentrated as her body glowed brightly, increasing her special attack and defense at a higher level than before.

The Shadow Ball hit its mark, causing an explosion of white smoke to appear, covering Mary's side of the field, Glaceon entered the white smoke cloud and tried to find her opponent and end this battle with her charged up Iron Tail.

Slowly, she could see a figure from the thick smoke and leaped towards it with her tail ready to strike, but as the figure slowly form, a pair of eyes from it glowed brightly, sending a powerful blast throughout the whole area, clearing the smoke cloud as well as sending Glaceon flying back.

Glaceon flew back to May's side of the field, hit dirt when she landed and rolled a bit further, covering her whole body with dirt before coming to a complete stop. Gardevoir, on the other hand, was covered in bruises again as she knelt down and breathe deeply.

"Glaceon!" May called out to her pokemon and ran towards her and carried her to her warm and caring arms.

"May, why don't we stop this battle, it was a good battle anyway and you were great out there." Mary said as she knelt down and placed her hand on her pokemon's shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right and thanks for the great battle, you and your Gardevoir looked great back there!" May replied and went to Mary's side of the field with Glaceon in her arms.

'Can you stand up or should I put you back in your pokeball first?' Mary asked telepathically.

'Nah, I can manage...' Gardevoir replied and with a deep sigh, she pulled herself up to her feet with the help of her trainer and friend, she closed her eyes and concentrated deeply, as her body glowed brightly yellow and slowly her wounds were healed, although not completely since Recover doesn't heal all wounds completely and takes a lot of energy to use as well.

"Hey, why don't we watch Ash and Brock's battle against Luke?" May asked as Mary liked the idea and the two proceeded to the field where the double battle was taking place.

"Pikachu! use Iron Tail!" Ash loudly said, his voice could easily be heard around the garden, while Pikachu charged in as his lightning-shaped tail glowed brightly, charging up his Iron Tail attack.

"Zangoose, Crush Claw." Luke said flatly as Zangoose's claws glowed white and white sparks surged from it and intercepted Pikachu's Iron Tail attack. Pikachu gritted his teeth and tried to overpower his opponent while Zangoose had a wide smirk on his face and had no trouble competing against him.

"Dusknoir, Shadow Punch and Zangoose, Double Team." Luke ordered his two pokemon, Dusknoir clenched both his fist as it became enveloped with dark energy, and with two thrusts, two Shadow Punches were created and was coming towards Zangoose.

Zangoose's body immediately separated into multiple copies of itself in mid-air as the Iron Tail suddenly thrust into Crush Claw and hitting the copy, but as the copy vanished, Pikachu's eyes widened in surprise as the two Shadow Punches was already close to him and hit him directly in the face and stomach.

"PIKAAA!" The electric-type pokemon screamed in pain and got knockbacked due to the impact of the attack.

"Zangoose, Crush Claw." Luke smirked as Zangoose's claws glowed brightly again, and immediately the copies disappeared, revealing him just above Pikachu with his claws raised, ready to strike when it got close.

"Croagunk, intercept that Crush Claw attack with Poison Jab!" Brock shouted, as the poison-type pokemon sprinted towards Zangoose with its hand glowed purple.

"Dusknoir, stop Croagunk and use Hypnosis." Luke said, as Croagunk was about to leap towards Zangoose, suddenly, Dusknoir appeared in front of him, its large hands grabbed hold of Croagunk, one hand on its neck and the other on its arm where it was charging its Poison Jab attack, disabling Croagunk's movements as the Poison Jab subsided.

Then, the single red eye of Dusknoir glowed brightly, as Croagunk stared at it, its whole body began to feel groggy and numb, its eyes slowly came to a shut before Dusknoir released Croagunk from its grip as it fell helplessly on the ground sleeping, with a bubble soon forming from its nose, leaving Brock stunned and helpless for the moment.

Without any interference, Pikachu was vulnerable at the moment as Zangoose moved in for the strike.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt!" Ash shouted, since Brock couldn't help right now as Pikachu charged up electricity and released it towards Zangoose as it intercepted with its Crush Claw attack. Electricity surged through Zangoose's arm but couldn't stop it, as it smirked and still hit Pikachu on the side.

"Pikachu! Get up, come on!" Ash shouted, calling out for his pokemon as he struggled to stand on its toes. While Brock, called out to his sleeping Croagunk as loudly as he can, but to no avail, as it was peacefully snoozing on the ground.

"C'mon guys! You can do it!" May cheered for the two, which caught Ash's attention, he looked to her, he smiled and gave her a thumbs up, appreciating what she was doing, while May, on the other hand, blushed lightly. Glaceon also cheered for Pikachu, as the yellow mouse pokemon's ears twitched upon hearing her voice, he slowly got up to his feet and gave Glaceon a thumbs up as well, also appreciating the moral support which, of course, made her blush.

The loud cheers they were making suddenly caught the attention of Paul as he curiously looked at the ongoing double battle and saw that his rival along with his friend was losing at the moment, he stared at Luke and his pokemon who seemed unscathed through the whole battle and began recalling all that he said a while ago.

'_Just like in pokemon battles, you see the trainer in them, it's like you already know what to expect from them and anticipate their every move while you analyze their weakness…' _Paul thought of that statement and analyzed it deeply, while he was doing that, he completely forgot that he had a battle going on.

"Buneary, use Dizzy Punch!" Dawn said and pointed towards her opponent, who seemed to be paying no attention to her as Buneary's ears glowed brightly and leaped towards Electabuzz who was staring at its trainer and then looked at the same spot he was staring at.

Suddenly, loud noises interrupted Paul's thoughts as he looked back and became surprised that Electabuzz was getting hit by its opponent, Buneary unleashed left and right hooks to the electric-type's face relentlessly while Electabuzz was getting pummeled hit after hit after hit.

Buneary finished it up with a Dizzy Punch uppercut to the jaw which sent Electabuzz knockbacked as it walked backwards, almost hitting Paul but he sidestepped at the right moment.

"Electabuzz, what are you doing? Use Thunder Punch!" Paul suddenly felt a chill in his body and quickly called out an attack, his pokemon heard his and clenched its fists, enveloping it with electricity, but much to his surprise, Electabuzz's eyes became swirly and immediately, it began swinging its arms in front of it while swaying to the sides sluggishly, looking like it was dancing while hitting nothing but air.

"We might win this Buneary! Use Ice Beam to freeze its arm!" Dawn became overjoyed, seeing this as an opportunity for a win against her opponent and ordered an attack, Buneary leaped to the air and charged up a white orb of energy from her mouth, and released it in the form of crooked Ice beams coming towards a confused Electabuzz.

Paul's eyes widened in surprise at the incoming Ice Beam aimed towards Electabuzz, as fears of an embarrassing defeat came to his mind.

---------------

"I'm gonna check on my restaurant for a while guys, you can do whatever you want, make yourself at home, but don't break anything here. Also, don't wander around the house; it's easy to get lost in here."

Luke said as he pulled out a long navy blue coat and left his home, leaving the gang all by themselves to do whatever they want.

It was afternoon already, they've just finished their morning battle training for the upcoming tournament that was only in two days from now. They've just finished their lunch before Luke left them to check up on his famous five-star restaurant, basically, they have the house to themselves.

Ash and Brock went to the garden to check some of Luke's pokemon while May, Dawn, and Mary decided to go to the kitchen and make some poffins for their pokemon.

"Wait, I left my notes for the new recipe I've been making for my new poffins back in our room. I'll just go and get it guys." Dawn suddenly remembered and said to the two as they were putting up the equipment and ingredients for the poffins they were making with the supervision of the pokemon there to make sure they won't make a mess.

"Sure thing Dawn, just don't get lost on your way back." May replied followed up with a giggle, teasing the blue-haired coordinator.

"No need to worry about me guys." Dawn said before leaving the two to get that note back on their room.

Hopefully, she remembered the same hallway where their room was in since there were many hallways around the living room, she felt confident in herself and entered the hallway she thought was the correct one.

Unfortunately for her, she seemed to be lost, she doesn't remember any of the surroundings here as she wandered hopelessly inside the mansion. She saw many kinds of pokemon strolling around the house, they looked at Dawn curiously before going back to their business. Heck, it looked like a zoo in here!

'Oh man, I'm so stupid…' Dawn said to herself, clearly admitting that she was lost and don't know where she was at as she continued to unfamiliar places. She stopped in her tracks where something caught her eye.

She stared inside a room and saw fighting pokemon inside the room, there were also equipments like dumbbells, a boxing and wrestling ring, a heavy bag, and such. Clearly, this was your fitness gym. There were Machop, Machoke, Hitmontop, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, Tyrogue, Lucario,, Medicham, and many more.

Her eyes soon caught sight of a figure which was entirely different from the rest of the pokemon. It had lavender hair, fair skin, and was about her height, with its body bare and wearing black jeans. Only did she realize that it was Paul!

Paul stared himself at the huge mirror covering one side of the fitness gym, he had been working out his muscles and was pleased with the result, his biceps were now perfectly curved, his abs were visibly seen. Dawn watched in amazement and how fit and muscular Paul was through that clothing he always wear everyday.

Suddenly, she felt something unusual in her heart, it began to pump hard, causing her to blush as she continued to look at the lavender haired trainer, then her eyes widened in surprise to see something that Paul never done in front of them before.

Paul, looked around, seeing that there was no one but fighting pokemon around him, began to flex in front of the mirror, clearly admiring and checking out the results of his hard labor, Dawn giggled by the marvelous and funny sight of Paul. He smiled at himself, as Dawn got another good look at him smiling, he was handsome and strong which made her blush and felt warm on the inside.

Paul felt content and grabbed a towel, wiped his body of the remaining sweat upon cooling off. Then he grabbed that same colored shirt he usually wears under that purple jacket of this, followed by the jacket before proceeding to leave the fitness gym.

Dawn quickly realized the situation she was in, and Paul might see her spying on him, which made her fear on what reaction Paul might give when she saw him doing that earlier. She quickly looked around desperately, trying to find any spot to hide.

As she was trying to look, a huge purple blob pokemon caught sight of her, it slowly crept up to her and opened its mouth wide open and ate her.

Paul was outside the gym, he looked around the surroundings, there's nothing but Luke's pokemon around. He suddenly noticed a big Swallot standing blankly beside the gym door, it didn't move however and seemed motionless.

Paul shrugged his shoulders and proceeded on his way. Swallot looked at him slowly leaving, and it was finally safe, it released Dawn from its mouth, safe and dry, and no signs of saliva or goo in her body.

"That...was uncalled for... but...t-thank…you…" Dawn said between deep breaths before standing up as Swallot smiled at her and nodded.

"Do you know where that lavender-haired guy went?"

Swallot pointed towards the direction where Paul was headed. Dawn thanked it and waved at it and sprinted off to try and catch up with Paul while Swallot waved back before doing its own business again.

'If I follow him around, maybe I'll learn more about him.' Dawn thought to herself, as she began her quest of spying Paul and learn more from him.

_to be continued… _

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**Advanceshipping is progressing nicely. While Dawn found a new discovery about Paul she never expected to see…**

**Not much to say about this chapter, and don't mind about the explanation part from Luke, its already hard for me to pick out words too since I'm not really good in English, so live with it… :D**

**Stay tuned for the next chapter, which will be out in four days at least or more…**

**Read and Review people! **


	8. Chapter 8: Heroism

**I want to clarify that I will be focusing on three shippings: AshxMay, DawnxPaul, and the PBG love triangle, not only PBG which I was always planning to do in the first place. And thanks to everyone reading and liking my story, but don't forget to review. It really helps :D And as always, sorry for my English, my vocabulary and sentence construction isn't that great compared to the others.**

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**CHAPTER 8**

**Heroism**

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Dawn began her quest to learn more about that lavender-haired trainer known as Paul through that cold attitude he always shows to the group. Setting aside that recipe she was supposed to get from their room to try and gain valuable information about who he really is behind that annoying bastard that she and the rest of the group usually think of him.

Paul walked quietly along the corridors with his hands on his pocket, clueless on the blue-haired coordinator spying him from behind. He left the house through the front door as Dawn realized that she was back in the living room, finally back in some place she knows.

She looked at the kitchen door and saw May and Mary busy making poffins, should she go back and make poffins or learn more about Paul? Bah, she can make poffins any time she want to, and this might be one of a lifetime opportunity for Dawn.

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Paul was sure fast in walking and Dawn can barely catch up with him. After a few minutes of walking, she suddenly lost sight of Paul, blame it on her feet or should I say Luke? The numbness on her legs was still there since the morning jog which made it hard for her to keep up.

After a half hour of searching, she found herself back at the town square, with a huge crowd strolling around the square, it's almost impossible to find Paul through the bustling crowd. She sighed in defeat and disappointment; she sat in a nearby bench to cool off.

"Hey, let me go!" A voice suddenly shouted, which caught everybody's attention, Dawn heard it completely and stood up to see where the voice was coming from.

Soon a crowd made a circle around the ongoing commotion as Dawn pushed her way through to see what was going on. She was surprised to see a girl with blonde hair and emerald eyes, wearing a plain white dress that reached below her knees with matching slippers.

"I said let me go!" The girl shouted and tried to pull her arm off the big, sturdy grip of a tall, rugged looking man. He had fair skin, a black goatee, wearing a brown cowboy hat, a white shirt which was stained orange on the abdomen portion, navy blue pants which was also stained orange, and brown hiking boots.

"Why the hell should I let you go after you spilled this orange stuff on my expensive clothes, you brat!" The man shouted back.

"You better say sorry to Brody, or else!" A smaller and thinner man added, he had a red Mohawk hairstyle, plus some jewelries on his ears, nose, eyebrows, and chin. He was wearing a black vest, revealing a part of his bare top, and matching pants and sneakers with a large keychain hanging on each pocket, making him look like a punk.

"Say sorry? But he's the one who tripped me on the first place, and he has the nerve to call me a brat?!" The young girl replied back, showing no fear against the much older and taller man.

"Why you, you'd better pay for this mess you brat!" The man staggered a bit, but continued to shout while getting more and more pissed, getting more and more people watching the entire scene.

"I know, why don't I give that you old shirt I found back in a dumpster, besides, it looks like that same shirt you're wearing." The blonde girl replied, making fun of the man as some of the crowd giggled and some tried to control their laughter.

"You better watch your mouth or else!" The man threatened her as veins became visible on his face, getting embarrassed and angry by the girl's remarks plus the loud giggles and whispers the crowd was making.

"Or else what?" That statement did it, as it made Brody really piss off, he raised his other hand and opened his palm widely, ready to slap the girl in the face as her eyes widened in surprise and fear about what was going to happen to her.

Before Brody could slap the young girl in the face, the girl landed a swift kick on his leg, causing him to yelp in pain and then his face suddenly got hit by a fast and powerful force, causing him to lose his grip on the girl and fall on his back, his hat flying off to a distance and leaving the girl stunned a bit before getting a safe distance from the two.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, picking on small, defenseless girls like that." A figure suddenly approached from the crowd as everybody looked in shock who was the man. Dawn peeked closer to get a better look at the man, he had lavender hair, fair skin, that familiar looking eyes, that purple jacket, black pants, and purple sneakers. Only one person she knew who had that same features: Paul.

Paul looked at the fallen Brody and his partner who was shaking his body, trying to wake him up. His face was still in that emotionless state and his hands inside his pockets as usual. Slowly, a dark and flying type pokemon descended just above Paul, Honchkrow while the girl quickly went behind him for protection.

"Hey, I'm not a small, defenseless girl-" The young girl complained, but got interrupted when the man made loud groans and regaining consciousness, he slowly stood up with the help of his partner with his hand holding his bare head where it became swollen and red after the hit.

"Oohh, a Pokemon trainer huh? Wait till I get my hands on your neck when my pokemon's through with yours, punk!" Brody smirked, his body was still shaking, but he maintained his balance. He pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and threw it in the air.

"Come on out, Staraptor!" He loudly called out his pokemon, as the pokeball opened and revealed a large flying-type pokemon, but something was different about it. It had many scars in its body; a few feathers were missing from its wings and tail, and a large scar on one of its eye. It looked very beaten up.

"My Staraptor's the strongest flying-type throughout the whole Sinnoh region, and I doubt your puny pokemon can even put a fight against mine!" Brody boasted while flexing his body as the crowds gave boos and other remarks which he completely ignored.

"Honchkrow have beaten many strong pokemons out there, that Staraptor of yours will be next." Paul flatly said, without giving any kind of emotion from his face, although inside, he really wants to kick his ass.

"Beat him up for me mister…" The blonde girl whispered to him and hugged his arm tightly. Paul looked at her and nodded before looking back at his enemy.

'Go Paul…' Dawn cheered for him in her thoughts, while staring at the lavender-haired trainer, he seemed to be a lot different than their previous encounters with him, usually, he was that cold-hearted trainer who cared nothing but power, but now, he's protecting someone he doesn't even know.

"Staraptor, get in there and use Steel Wing!" Brody ordered as Staraptor dived towards its opponent with its large wings glowing brightly, charging up its attack.

"Wait for it to get close and use Dark Pulse." Paul said flatly as Honchkrow quickly understood what he meant and stood its ground, anticipating Staraptor's speed before it will use its attack. Staraptor's speed was very fast, but it couldn't match Honchkrow's superior sight as it opened its beak wide open and unleashed a wave of purple beams shaped like circles.

The Dark Pulse attack hit Staraptor's body head-on before Steel Wing could even connect and was sent flying back to its trainer but it managed to regain its composure before hitting him.

"Dammit, Staraptor! What are you doing?! Get in there and use Quick Attack!" Brody shouted as saliva could be seen from his mouth, he was getting pissed at his pokemon, while Staraptor elevated first and dove down to its opponent again but at a much faster rate.

"Sky Attack." Paul said as Honchkrow gained some momentum by spinning first before diving to its opponent, making a powerful wind trail from its beak and colliding with the Quick Attack.

A huge explosion occurred upon impact, covering the air with light smoke, as everybody stared anxiously of the results of the two attacks. Then suddenly, Staraptor came out from the thick smoke and was falling down, bruises all over its body, the smoke cloud cleared, and Honchkrow was revealed without any kind of bruises at all.

Staraptor managed to recover again before landing to solid ground, it landed on its sharp, clawed feet. But after a few seconds, Staraptor flinched in pain and knelt down.

"Keith!!! Don't just stand there, help me!" Brody shouted to his partner out of anger and desperation, as the punk man known as Keith hesitantly took out a pokeball from his pocket and weakly threw it to the air, he was never good in pokemon battles, and seeing that Brody, which he highly thinks of was getting pummeled by that kid sent shivers to his spine.

The pokeball opened, revealing a bat pokemon with a very large mouth with four fangs clearly visible as it flapped its wings wildly.

"G-golbat. Use Screech!" Keith took a deep breath, regained his confidence and ordered an attack, as Golbat unleashed a very loud screeching sound which made the whole crowd watching shout by the ear-piercing pain and covered their ears to lessen the powerful noise.

The Screech disoriented Honchkrow as the powerful sound lost its balance as it tried to regain its composure while trying to resist the Screech attack.

"Perfect, now use Brave Bird, Staraptor!" Brody smirked by the great opportunity as Staraptor leapt from the ground and dived again to gain momentum and speed as flames enveloped its whole body, before it hit the ground, it rose up immediately and now the flame turned into a majestic blue aura and headed straight towards Honchkrow.

"Honchkrow, use Haze and try to dodge it!" Paul shouted, still shocked by the sudden interference of his partner as well as the incoming attack that may turn the battle around to their favor, Honchkrow managed to summon a thick cloud of black smoke in front of it, blocking the view of Staraptor, hopefully, it would make its attack miss.

Honchkrow, still affected by the continuous Screech attack, managed to lean to its right after anticipating Staraptor's Brave Bird attack through the Haze attack, and barely dodging the attack due to the huge range the attack had. The Haze cleared, and Honchkrow could be seen, still safe from harm, while Staraptor, on the other hand, was receiving surges of pain throughout its body, the consequence of using such a powerful attack.

"Good job Golbat, use Screech and charge in, and use Bite when you get close!" Keith, feeling much more confident, ordered his pokemon, as Golbat moved in while still using Screech attack to immobilize Honchkrow.

"Great, let's finish this up with Steel Wing, Staraptor!" Brody shouted with determination, as Staraptor managed to charge up its wings as they glowed brightly and dived towards its opponent, leaving Paul stunned by what's going to happen next after the attacks meet Honchkrow.

But suddenly, barrages of glowing bubbles intercepted both Golbat and Staraptor, cancelling their attack as well as damaging them which surprised everyone around the town square, including Paul.

"Two on one isn't fair!" A female voice shouted as everyone's face turned to the direction where the voice was coming from. Paul's eyes widened in surprise to see that blue-haired coordinator beside him along with her starter pokemon, Piplup.

"Ooohhh, looks like that punk kid's girlfriend came to his rescue, how nice!" Brody said which immediately made the two blush upon hearing that statement, they looked at each other and quickly looked away after that.

"Heh, after I'm through with you punk, I think I'm gonna have fun with your girlfriend here, what nice legs you got…" Brody smirked and licked his lips devilishly as Dawn was grossed out and scared upon hearing that and backed away a bit as her Piplup moved forward, determined to protect its trainer.

"You're disgusting…I'm going to beat the hell out of you…" Paul said in an angry tone, his bad and disgusting attitude was beginning to really annoy him; he clenched his fists tightly while the blonde girl could only do nothing but watch what might happen next.

"Honchkrow, show them no mercy." Paul said to his dark and flying type pokemon as it nodded in agreement and flew back to their side, glaring at the two intently.

"Pip-Piplup!" The water-type pokemon called out to Honchkrow, telling something to it that only fellow pokemon would understand as Honchkrow listened and agreed to it before looking back at their opponents.

"I'll help too!" Dawn told Paul, who was still surprised to see her. Wasn't she back at the mansion? Did she follow me around? Bah, now it's not the time for that, more important matters are going on.

"Stay out of this." He said flatly to her partner and gave an annoyed glare.

"I'm going to help you whether you like it or not!" Dawn replied back, refusing to leave Paul at a disadvantage against those two. Paul got a little frustrated, but sighed eventually and went silent, he really needs an ally if he's going to beat those two.

"Well, if you punks won't make a move, then we will, Staraptor use Quick Attack on that Honchkrow!" Brody said while pointing at Honchkrow as Staraptor flew up and then dived down at an amazing speed towards its target.

"Golbat, use Steel Wing on Piplup!" Keith was the next to give an attack as Golbat's large wings glowed brightly and dived towards the water-type pokemon.

"Piplup, dodge and use Drill Peck!" Dawn ordered as Piplup made a stance, when Golbat was at close range, it swung its Steel Wing attack, but when it was about to it, Piplup sprang up to the air, dodging the attack. Golbat swung its other wing, but Piplup spun and elegantly dodged the next attack.

Now Piplup was above Golbat, its small, yellow beak glowed brightly and became elongated into a sharp, longer beak and dove down, hitting Golbat on the head and sent it crashing down to the ground. Piplup then jumped backwards to their side and made its stance again.

"Golbat, use Screech!" Keith hesitantly said as Golbat struggled to stand up, due to the massive pain it received on its head. As it rose its head, its mouth unleashed a powerful ear-piercing wave and sent it towards Piplup, immobilizing the water-type as it covered its ears and tried to withstand the pain.

"Honchkrow, dodge it and use Sky Attack on Golbat!" Paul said as Honchkrow prepared for the right moment, then flapped its wings hard and flew right up, as the Quick Attack hit nothing but air. Honchkrow then dived towards Golbat as its whole body became enveloped by wind, leaving a powerful trail of gust behind.

"Staraptor, don't let it get away!" Brody shouted, Staraptor then dived down, following Honchkrow behind as the dark-type quickly outrun Staraptor and hit Golbat right in the face, cancelling the Screech attack and sent it flying back to their opponent's side.

Honchkrow slowed down due to the impact as Staraptor grew closer to its tail, since Sky Attack is gone, Staraptor can now catch up to it.

"Piplup, help Honchkrow and use Bubblebeam!" Dawn said as Piplup went towards the two and telling something to Honchkrow which the dark-type quickly understood and headed straight towards Piplup.

At the right moment, Piplup jumped towards Honchkrow, then springing up from its back and now only a feet away from colliding with Staraptor, it opened its beak wide, and unleashed a barrage of blue, glowing bubblebeams, hitting Staraptor at close range, sending it flying back and crashing down to the opponent's side.

"Great job Piplup!" Dawn praised her pokemon as it happily looked back and cheered loudly. Paul was stunned by the amazing assist that Piplup made, she was pretty good and impressive, but remained silent.

"Dammit, Staraptor! Can't you do anything right? Stand up!" Brody's earlier smirk turned upside down, and angrily shouted to its beaten pokemon. Staraptor struggled to stand up, it received a lot of attacks and was really wearing it down, and doesn't know if it can hold on much longer.

"Golbat, you need to stand up!" Keith desperately called out to its pokemon, although much more caring than what Brody said earlier.

Staraptor slowly stood up to its feet and flew up, but was breathing hard, bruises and scratches were all over its body while Golbat, its partner, also flew up slowly, tired and weak, they're going to lose if they don't do something fast.

"Boss, I think we need to attack together if we want to turn this around." Keith said to Brody, who was sweating hard, nervousness and fear now filled his thoughts. He slowly looked to his partner and slowly nodded, he was out of ideas on his own right now.

"Okay, Golbat, you heard us, use Steel Wing on Honchkrow!" Keith said as Golbat nodded and charged in towards Honchkrow with its wings glowing brightly.

"Staraptor, use Brave Bird!" Brody shouted, making many of the crowd gasp and shocked by the given attack. Brave Bird will damage the user after doing the attack, and Staraptor was really beat and tired. Staraptor, however, had to follow its trainer's command, as it dived down, enveloping its body in flames, then rose back up before hitting the ground, and the flame became a majestic, blue aura, making it look like a giant bird.

"Honchkrow, use Haze." Paul flatly said, as Honchkrow summoned a thick cloud of smoke covering the air with black smoke, making it harder for the opponent to see as they entered the smoke cloud.

"Now Piplup, use Whirlpool into that Haze!" Dawn quickly thought of an idea, and said to her pokemon who immediately understood. Piplup's body glowed brightly like an ocean and raised its arms, as a massive whirlpool formed above it. Piplup, then moved the Whirlpool towards the Haze, entering the smoke cloud.

Slowly, the Haze attack subsided, and the Whirlpool came into view which shocked everyone, as both Staraptor and Golbat were trapped by the powerful waves of the Whirlpool.

"Not bad…" Those words escaped from Paul's mouth, amazed again by her moves.

"Uhh, thanks…" Dawn felt surprised from hearing that from Paul himself and lightly blushed, that was the first time to be praised by someone like him. Paul, later realized that and shook his head repeatedly, refocusing himself back at the battle. Unknowingly for them, the blonde girl was looking at the two curiously.

"Honchkrow, finish them with Dark Pulse!" Paul ordered, as Honchkrow rose above the whirlpool and opened its beak wide, unleashing waves of dark energy shaped like circles, hitting the two accurately as the strong current immobilized them and made them defenseless and vulnerable.

The Whirlpool exploded eventually, sending both Staraptor and Golbat falling down to their trainers, landing on their faces and sending them crashing to the floor while completely drenching them. Swirls formed from their eyes, as the two of them fainted and defeated.

"W-why you! You'll all pay for this!" Brody shouted and tried to push Staraptor from his body to the side and slowly stood up. As he looked at the punks who just defeated the two of them. His eyes met with Honchkrow's.

"Dark Pulse." Paul said, as Honchkrow rose up and unleashed another Dark Pulse attack at Brody and Keith which made another explosion and sending them flying across the horizon.

Paul sighed deeply, finally the battle was won and over and recalled his pokemon back. Soon, the crowd applauded for the two for a job well done, making loud cheers and whistles which made the lavender-haired trainer uncomfortable, he wasn't used in getting this much attention, or being loved by the entire crowd.

"Thanks for saving me mister!" The blonde girl stood in front of him and looked at him with sparkles in her eyes, and a wide smirk of joy and happiness.

"Heh, looks like you made a new friend, Paul." Dawn said and smiled, recalled her Piplup back to her pokeball and went over to the two of them which made Paul blush in embarrassment and looked away from the blue-haired coordinator.

"So Paul is your name mister? Wow, you were amazing back there. Oh yeah, and thank you too Miss." The cheerful girl thanked Dawn and bowed down in respect.

"Oh, it's nothing…"

"Hmm, now how do I repay the two of you for saving me back there?" The girl said to herself while thinking deeply.

"Really, it's noth-" Dawn tried to tell her, but got interrupted when she finally thought of something.

"Wait, I know! Why don't you two come to my place for a while? It's the least I can do for you two lovebirds…" The girl teasingly said, making the two blush again.

"We're not a couple! And as she said before, there's no need to repay us!," Paul said in a loud tone, clearly annoyed by that statement.

"Come on, there's no need to be shy." The girl insisted and began pulling their hands to come with her. Showing no signs of letting go, the two sighed in unison and eventually followed her back to her home.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot. My name's Alicia. What's your name Miss?"

"My name is Dawn."

"Dawn and Paul… Now that sounds nice and romantic for a couple, right?" Alicia began teasing them again, Dawn tried to convince her as she gave a wide smirk, ignoring every statement she made while Paul rolled his eyes and didn't say a word anymore.

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_Meanwhile, back at Luke's mansion._

"Hey, shouldn't Dawn be back by now?" May asked as she pulled out a tray of freshly-baked poffins from the oven, she inhaled the pleasant aroma and gave out a sigh of satisfaction and success. She became a good cook back in Johto, and was now pleased with her performance in cooking.

"Yeah, you're right. It's been almost an hour when she said she'll be back with her recipe." Mary replied and stared at the kitchen clock while holding a basket filled with her freshly-baked pink poffins and placed it on the counter.

"Don't you think… she got lost, do you?" May thought about it a bit, but it seems that this was the only thing that made Dawn so late in coming back.

"Should we go find her?"

"I don't know, we might get lost too finding her. And I don't like getting lost again just like back in our adventures with Ash and Brock." May replied back as she recalled all those previous events back in Hoenn, getting separated together, lost due to the idiotic shortcuts that the two of them make, trying to save time, which eventually made them spent nights trying to get out from those places.

"Really? But at least you had good friends back there." Mary said as she pulled out a wipe cloth and began cleaning the mess on her side of the kitchen.

"Yeah, even if we usually get lost because of them, it was fun having them around." May said and placed the hot tray on the counter, thinking all the fun memories they all made which made her smile, she did miss their company a lot.

"I envy you May, you had friends that are always with you." Mary said slowly and became a bit sad upon saying that.

"What do you mean? Don't you have travelling friends with you?" May was surprised upon hearing that, little did she know, that her hands are slowly moving on its own, grabbing a poffin and putting it in her mouth.

"I have many friends, but I prefer to travel alone. The main purpose why I decided to travel was to find Luke. Of course, that was my goal, why would anyone want to help me look for him since it doesn't concern them in the first place." Mary said and sighed, as May listened intently while chewing the poffin.

"Oh, but you finally found him right?" May felt concerned, but tried to cheer her up with usual smile.

"Yeah, but looks like he had amnesia about me."

"So? You just need to start over again, right? Just like you said last time and he'll remember you eventually." May said as she took another poffin.

"Yeah, you're right. Thanks for being a good listener, May." Mary smiled at the brunette coordinator, feeling a lot better after telling her.

"Heh, that's what friends are for Mary." May smiled, Mary looked at her and soon opened her mouth wide, stunned by the sight.

"What? What's wrong?" May said as Mary continued to look at her, May was confused and stared below. She was holding a half-eaten poffin and her tray has four poffins missing already.

"Whoops, I think I got carried away back there." May faked a laugh and scratched her head, trying to hide that embarrassing thing she just made, although the poffin tasted good, It was meant for her pokemon.

"Hey, what's cooking?" A voice said from the kitchen door which made the two of them look.

"Oh, Ash, Brock, why are you here?" May asked while hiding the half-bitten poffin behind her.

"We just finished checking out the garden, man, there are so many different kinds of pokemon out there." Ash said.

"Pikaaachuu…" Pikachu said cutely while smelling the pleasant aroma emitting from May's tray of poffins and quickly jumped down from Ash's shoulders and took a poffin and chew it.

"So how does it taste Pikachu?" May asked curiously.

"…Pikachu!" Pikachu said in delight and continued munching down the poffin and licked his paws clean afterwards, clearly he liked the taste.

"Hey, did you made those poffins all by yourself, May?" Brock asked out of curiosity, surprised to see the brunette coordinator prepared freshly baked poffins, while in their previous adventure together, May couldn't even boil water right.

"Yeah, pretty amazing right? Why don't we call out our pokemon, we've baked these poffins just for them, you know." May chuckled and then pulled out her pokeballs from her pocket.

"Sounds like a good idea, but wouldn't it be better if we go to the dining room first? It's gonna get crowded up in here if we release them right now?" Mary suggested, which everyone agreed as they went back to the dining room.

Ash, Brock, May, and Mary went back to the spacious dining room where they always had their meals together. Ash and Brock shared the load by carrying the trays and plates for the pokemon and some of the baked poffins while the girls carried the lighter load. They placed everything on the dining table and everyone pulled out their pokeballs.

"Well then, come on out everybody!" Ash called out as everyone else followed suit. They all threw their pokeballs to the air and revealed their pokemon.

"I hope you guys are prepared for some afternoon snack." Ash said and took a large plate from the table and filled it with some poffins and placed them on the floor where his pokemon: Pikachu, Gliscor, Buizel, Staravia, Grotle, and Chimchar were all eager to eat.

"There you go, eat up, there's plenty to go around." Brock said as he placed the poffins on separate trays and gave them to his pokemon: Croagunk, Sudowoodo, and Happiny who were also excited to eat.

"Here's some of my delicious homemade poffins you guys, eat up!" Mary cheerfully said and brought out a big plate with poffins and placed it on the floor where her Gardevoir, Pidgeot, and Mismagius grouped together.

'Are you sure this isn't poison?' Gardevoir telepathically said to her trainer while inspecting the poffins intently.

'Poison? What the hell are you talking about? The last thing I remembered is how the glutton you are, secretly eating the entire poffins I made way, way back!' Mary replied back, annoyed by her pokemon's remark and making her recall an embarrassing moment she made back.

'I was pretty hungry back then!' Gardevoir made a shocked look on her face, quickly remembering that same incident before and hesitantly made an excuse.

'Don't try and deny it, you like my poffins. Just admit it already, sheesh…' Mary rolled her eyes and stared at Gardevoir while smirking wildly at her which made her blush in embarrassment. The Psychic pokemon realized later that Pidgeot and Mismagius started eating already as she took a poffin and ate it quietly, soon after she took a couple more and consumed them quickly, which made Mary chuckle.

"Why do I feel like we're missing something? Or someone?" Brock suddenly asked the group as they looked at him confused.

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot! Dawn is missing!" May shouted in shock, she completely forgot the blue-haired coordinator who was supposed to be with them all this time.

"Yeah, you're right, including Paul." Ash looked around and there was no sign of Dawn or any of her pokemon.

"Luke warned us that we could get lost if we wander around the mansion. Should we still look for her?"

Everyone was concerned and surprised to see their fellow companion to be missing out of the blue, well, except for one, and we all know who that is.

No Dawn = No Buneary! She thought really which excited her. A wide grin formed on her face, a moment without her rival is a moment with Pikachu with no interferences along.

Glaceon stared at her teammates; Venusaur, Wartortle, Blaziken, Beautifly and Skitty seemed to be busy eating the poffins from their plates, they wouldn't even notice her gone. She quietly moved her plate away from the group and proceeded to Pikachu's side, but a little far away so she wouldn't be noticed by the other pokemon around.

Now how to get Pikachu's attention? Glaceon thought deeply about this, if she approach Pikachu and ask him to join her right away, she might get the others' attention and soon the entire group would look at them suspiciously, and she's gonna get pretty embarrassed if that ever happens.

Finally, she thought of an idea, she took a poffin on her mouth and put it on the floor and shoved it from her nose towards Pikachu's back, but it stopped halfway only. A little frustrated, she took another one and shoved it again with a stronger force than before, making the poffin fly up a bit before skidding to a complete stop, missing Pikachu for a few feet.

Okay, third's time the charm. She took a third poffin, placed it on the floor and backed a little bit. Then she charged and shoved the poffin from her nose, it didn't touch the ground and was soaring high, it looked like a good shot halfway, but it seems like she used too much power that time.

The soaring Poffin landed onto Pikachu's head, causing him to drop his half-bitten poffin while the poffin that landed on his head bounced off and landed to his hands. He stared at it confused and looked around, but not to his back.

Upon inspecting the surrounding, nothing seems to be out of the ordinary, so he shrugged his shoulders and started to eat the poffin that was on his hand. Glaceon's jaws dropped wide open by the result of her plan. While the ice-type pokemon became disappointed and sad as she looked away and put her head down in defeat while Gardevoir, was inspecting the whole thing.

'I think Glaceon's trying to talk to you.' The psychic-type pokemon said to Pikachu telepathically which made the electric-type pokemon surprised and began to look around again. His eyes caught sight of Gardevoir waving at him.

'Behind you.' The psychic-type pokemon said as Pikachu stared at her blankly first before looking at his back. He was surprised to see Glaceon away from May's group, then he noticed two poffins on the floor, there he realized that Glaceon's trying to call him by throwing some Poffins.

Pikachu looked back at Gardevoir but she was eating some poffins again. Pikachu looked confused and stared at her a bit before standing up, then she took the two poffins on the floor and walked to Glaceon, who seems to be gloating.

"Pika, Pikachu?" The yellow mouse pokemon asked.

Glaceon's ears twitched upon hearing Pikachu's voice, she quickly looked around and was surprised to see Pikachu in front of her with the two poffins on his hands, a wide, happy smile formed on her face and began to strike up a conversation with him as they both sat together. Gardevoir smiled at the two at a distance, feeling good in helping someone for their love, if only she could get Gallade's attention too.

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"We're finally here!" Alicia said as she led Dawn and Paul in front of their yard. It looked nice and beautiful, bushes, flowers, rocks and a small pond. She pulled their hands and proceeded towards their house, which was also impressive, the exteriors were nice, and the paint somehow goes with their yard.

She led them to the front door and pressed the doorbell as a loud, yet peaceful sound emitted from it. She backed away a bit and put her hands behind her, smiling and excited as footsteps could be heard coming from the door.

The door opened as a tall woman with long blonde hair, chocolate eyes, wearing a white shirt and navy blue jeans and sneakers and also a pink apron on top and was holding a spatula on her hand. Alicia jumped for joy and ran towards her and hugged her legs tightly, obviously, she was Alicia's mom.

"Alicia, where have you been, and who are these people?" Her mother asked her concerned, and looked at the two visitors on her front door.

"Oh, these two are my new friends! This is Dawn and Paul! They saved me earlier when I ran with some thugs back in town." Alicia excited said and introduced the two.

"Saved you? Thugs? Did you get hurt in any way?" Her mother knelt down, placed her spatula on the floor, and began inspecting Alicia's body.

"I got grabbed on the arm, but Paul quickly came to the rescue and saved me from that disgusting man. And then, when his accomplice came and tried to intervene, his girlfriend, Dawn-"

"I'm not his girlfriend!" "She's not my girlfriend!" The two quickly said in unison as blushes formed on their faces.

And as I was saying, they worked together and quickly kicked their butts, then everything was like-" She continued but was interrupted when her mother placed her finger on her mouth, prompting her to stop.

"Okay, sweetie, I think I get it now." She smiled at her and stood up.

"I want to thank you for saving my daughter. My name is Grace, her mother, and it is an honor to have you as guests. Come on in." Grace bowed down in front of them, which shocked them obviously.

"No it's okay, really…" Dawn said but Grace grabbed her hand along with Paul's and pulled them inside their house. Now they know where Alicia got that persistent personality.

"Alicia, why don't you show our guests the dining room and keep them company, while mommy prepare some snacks for everyone?" She humbly asked as Alicia quickly agreed, grabbed their hands and showed them to the dining room.

"Sit down, you guys." Alicia let go and pulled a chair, sat down, and pointed at the other chairs. The two stared a bit and then proceeded to sit. Dawn on one side, while Paul was on the other side while giving each other the silent treatment.

"Aww, why are you so far from each other?" Alicia complained as the two didn't look or say anything to each other or that statement. Alicia, then, went to Paul's side and sat on the chair next to him, and stared at him with her eyes sparkling in admiration about him.

"…What?" Paul stared at her and asked, confused on why was she looking at him like that.

"Are you a trainer right?"

"Uh, yeah."

"That's so cool! I wanna be like you when I become ten next year, and then I can have my own pokemon, so I can become friends with them, love them, and become one with them! And in return, they will also become friends with me, love me, and become one with me! Well, that's what someone said to me a long time ago." Alicia said excitedly and began to think deeply about who said that statement.

Paul, on the other hand, was surprised to hear that, and stared at the girl with interest. He knew who was she talking about, and maybe get some answers from him which he could understand better.

"Hmm, I don't know which starter pokemon should I choose: Should I get a Chimchar, a Turtwig, or a Piplup." She said as she thought about it deeply.

"Although, I prefer a Buizel. It's agile, it's strong, and very reliable when I need its help." Alicia said, stood up on the chair and made quick poses, her mind on a different dimension right now, portraying herself as a trainer with a Buizel as her pokemon while in a battle against another trainer.

"So? How do you train your pokemon Paul? Can you share me some of your secret training stuff?" Alicia sat down and asked the lavender-haired trainer.

"I…uhh…err…" Paul hesitantly said, he wouldn't want to tell a young, cheerful girl like her his training methods.

"Nah, it's okay. When I become a trainer, I'll invent my own unique training methods to make my pokemon stronger. As long as there's trust, confidence, and understanding between you and your pokemon, your opponents wouldn't stand a chance!" Alicia continued to talk, which amazed the two inside the dining room on how much she knew about pokemon at such a young age.

"Okay, Alicia. That's enough, the food's ready." Grace said as they looked at her from the door, carrying a tray with plates with sandwiches and glasses of milk. She then placed it at the table and Alicia quickly took a plate and a glass and placed it in front of her, while Grace gave Paul and Dawn their sandwiches and glasses of milk and sat down next to Dawn.

"My daughter's really something, isn't she?" Grace asked the blue-haired coordinator as they looked at the young, enthusiastic girl continuously telling Paul all about Pokemon while he, on the other hand, was listening intently on every word she said.

"Yeah, she seems to know a lot about pokemon." Dawn said.

"Yup, she's been interested to Pokemon when she's just a toddler back then."

"Wow…"

"It looks like she likes to talk to your friend there, are you two trainers?"

"Yeah, but I'm also a pokemon coordinator."

"Really, that's amazing. I was also a coordinator back in my early days as a trainer."

"Wow… if you don't me asking, did you win any grand festivals in your life?"

"Of course, I won two ribbon cups in Sinnoh and Johto. But hey, enough about me, let's talk about you."

"Oh, okay then."

"So are you two a couple?"

!!!

_to be continued _

**------------------**

**A good ikarishipping chapter while Glaceon is very happy due to the fact that Buneary is gone, so Pikachu's all to herself during the moment.**

**More exciting stuff is going to happen next chapter, so stay tuned folks!**


	9. Chapter 9: Jealousy

**----------**

**CHAPTER 9**

**Jealousy**

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Night again was setting in as the sun began to set on Coralgreen town. Pokemon went back to their nests after a day's foraging for food and other necessities, while the night pokemon prepared themselves until darkness comes before they do their own business comfortably.

"It's getting late. I need to go." Paul looked at his watch and stared at the window, it's starting to get dark outside.

"Thank you for the meal Ma'am and Alicia. Good night." Paul stood up and bowed down to the two and proceeded to the door, leaving Dawn surprised and ignored.

"Hey, wait… Uh thank you for the hospitality. I need to get going to." Dawn bowed down to the two and ran towards the direction where Paul was going.

"Come again tomorrow, okay? And thank you Paul!" Alicia ran towards the door, she waved her hands goodbye and shouted loudly.

"We will, thanks again!" Dawn looked and waved back. Paul, on the other hand, didn't look back, but he did hear her voice as he raised his hand lightly, getting the message before he put it back to his pocket where he usually places them.

The next minutes were spent in silence, Paul was still silent and was ahead as usual with his pockets while Dawn was behind him, still thinking about what the two talked about since she was busy talking to Grace.

The evening breeze started to set in, giving cold, unpleasant chills to Dawn's bare arms and legs, since she was wearing a sleeveless shirt along with a pink mini skirt, no jacket or coat to protect her from the cold and giving her warmth as she put her crossed her arms together while her body gave some unvoluntary shakes.

Suddenly, Paul stopped from his walk, allowing a surprised Dawn to finally catch up to him. He turned his head, looking at her with his usual serious glare that made the blue-haired coordinator frightened a bit for what will happen next. He looked at her, crossing her arms like that, while the cold air easily touched her bare skin which made her shiver more.

"W-what?" Dawn asked.

"Why were you following me?" Paul asked the shocked coordinator flatly.

"F-follow you? What do you mean?" Dawn tried to make an excuse as Paul looked at her more suspiciously.

"Don't kid with me, you were supposed to be at the kitchen with the other girls, making those… weird girl scout cookies." He turned around to look at her face-to-face with his arms crossed.

"First off, they're called Poffins, and they're for the pokemon. And I wasn't following you; I was just…uh…browsing for some dresses I saw earlier until I heard the commotion at the square." Dawn finally thought of an excuse, hiding it with a fake, clueless smile.

Paul looked at her intently and then unzipped his purple-black jacket, then removed it from his upper body, revealing his muscular arms and well-toned body through that dark shirt he's wearing, and tossed it to Dawn as she grabbed it with a surprised look on her face.

"You'll catch a cold…" Paul said flatly and turned back and walked again.

"But what about you?" Dawn ran towards Paul's side with his jacket in her arms, still shocked by what he did.

"I'll manage…" Paul replied as Dawn stared at him a bit more but the cold breeze touched her bare skin again, sending shivers throughout her body. She wore Paul's jacket and she could feel his warmth from the jacket which protected her upper body.

The jacket was a little big for her as the sleeves reached up to her palms, only revealing her fingers. Although her legs were still feeling the cold air, the warmth of the jacket was giving her was more than enough to make her comfortable and warm again.

Another few minutes has passed as they were walking back to Luke's place. Dawn was at Paul's side finally and not at his back, feeling more confident in herself as she kept with his pace. As they were walking, they noticed two people coming from the direction they were going.

They were a boy and a girl, the girl was shivering and holding her arms together since she was wearing also a sleeveless shirt while the boy took off the jacket he was wearing and placed it around the girl's body. Then he cuddled her as they both laughed, sharing each other's warmth and affection to each other.

That scene made Dawn blush, this was similar to what Paul did a while ago except the cuddling part of course, her heart became heavy as she placed her hands towards it and thinking deeply if Paul was like that. She didn't know if Paul also saw the couple doing that and blushed as well since the lavender-haired trainer always kept his cool.

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"Where were you?!"

That was the first thing the two heard upon entering the house as they were greeted by the rest of the gang. Dawn was obviously bombarded with questions by May and Mary, since she suddenly disappeared like that as they all surrounded her. Paul, on the other hand, was greeted by Luke.

"I'm so sorry guys. I really didn't mean to leave without telling you." Dawn apologized again and again to the two girls as they continued to glare at her suspiciously.

"Just don't run off like that without telling us next time, okay?" Mary crossed her arms, her face still worried at her.

"Oh yeah, why is Paul with you?" May suddenly asked.

"Ah, I…err…just happen to bump into him on the way back." Dawn was surprised upon hearing that question and hesitantly made an excuse as she looked at Paul, hoping to help her out of this mess, but it seems like he was busy talking to Luke.

"Oh really now? So why are you wearing Paul's jacket then?" May said and leaned towards her, making a teasing, suspicious look at her.

"Hmm, I sensing that you two did something together?" Mary said as they continued to tease Dawn who was really blushing hard while Paul made an annoyed look at them upon hearing that statement.

"No we didn't. The reason why I'm wearing his jacket is because it was very cold outside and I might catch a cold, so there…" Dawn finally confessed; embarrassed upon saying that while leaving the others stunned.

"Wow… Paul did that…" A surprised Ash said to himself.

"Paul…a gentleman… That's hard to believe…" Brock said while crossing his arms as the group turned their heads towards Paul who quickly looked back at Luke, pretending he didn't hear anything.

"Since we're all complete, let's have dinner then." Luke said as he proceeded to the dining room while pulling Paul on the shoulder alongside him. The group liked the idea, as their grumbling stomachs totally agree with the idea.

"So… was that really true Paul?" Luke leaned to his ear and whispered.

"True what?" Paul stared at him confused.

"That you lent your jacket to her?" Luke smirked at him.

"…Yeah." Paul said confused.

"Heh, that's a good thing you did for her. It makes you feel good, don't you think?"

"…Kind of" Paul thought about it at first before saying it, it really did feel nice helping someone out.

"So are you going to ask her out?" Luke suddenly asked with a big smirk on his face, as Paul looked at him surprised.

"What? No way, besides, I can't stand girls…" Paul freaked out a bit before calming himself down as Luke became a bit shocked upon hearing that.

"Come on, if you spend a little more time with them, you'll get to know them better. Plus, I think Dawn kinda likes you…" Luke whispered to his ear, causing him to blush. Paul sighed deeply, everyone wants to talk about this and his ears are going tired upon hearing those similar statements again and again.

"…Hey Luke, can I ask you something?" After a moment of silence between the two, Paul suddenly asked.

"What is it?"

"Do you have any Buizel around your garden? If so, can you give me one?"

"I would happily give you one, but from what I remember, it's not yet the mating season for my Floatzels. Now why would you want one anyway?" Luke asked.

"I…err… want to train one for myself." Paul made an excuse, he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell the truth or not.

"Well, there's a lake near from my home and there resides a variety of water pokemon, if you're lucky, you can find a Buizel there. I'll even lend you one of my fishing rods if you like."

"Thanks…" Paul said as the group entered the dining room and sat in their respective seats as usual.

"Here, Paul, thanks for the jacket." Dawn took off the jacket Paul lent to her and gave it back, saying thanks and giving him a warm smile. Paul, however, didn't say anything but nodded in response and took his jacket and wore it, her smile plus he could still feel her warmth from his jacket which made him blush.

The delicious meals were prepared for them as well as for their pokemon, and it was time to dig inside the dining room was very busy, munching down their meals. But one of them wasn't actually busy eating the food.

Glaceon set her eyes again on Pikachu, her previous attempt truly paid off being able to kiss Pikachu without any interference around. Although, they were caught by Gliscor and quickly told everybody, that same thought were imprinted on their minds as they all cheered for the two, giving whistles and laughing wickedly.

Glaceon first thought she could get away with you with only her and Pikachu knowing. As the two were sitting beside each other, she slowly moved closer to Pikachu secretly, and within kissing distance, she made her move. She leaned her head closer to Pikachu's face and implanted a peck on his cheek. Leaving the mouse pokemon stunned as his heart pounded fast and placed his hand on his cheek where she kissed it, blushes were formed on his face as Glaceon looked at his eyes very deeply, well, until Gliscor saw the whole thing.

Although, her alone time with Pikachu was cut short during that time, at least it made her more confident in herself. She pushed her plate from her group and towards Pikachu. Her other group members watched her and didn't mind at all for they now all knew why was she doing that.

Glaceon was greeted by Pikachu's group as she happily sat beside Pikachu, even if she can't be alone with Pikachu at that time, at least she can get to know more about Pikachu from his group members and further improve their relationship as friends into something deeper which was her ultimate goal. She was enjoying her time though they were constantly teased but she did like it while sharing a set of jokes and laughs and some interesting topics.

But let's not forget someone very important here. In Dawn's group, Buneary was watching the whole thing. She cursed her rival for getting close to Pikachu, and was curious on what happened to the two while she was away with her trainer.

She told her friends: Piplup, Pachirisu, Ambipom, and Swinub that she was gonna go to Pikachu's side as they were all cool with it since they all know that Buneary has a crush on that yellow rodent pokemon.

Buneary carried her plate and walked towards Pikachu's group as they looked at her surprised, especially Glaceon as she asked if she can sit with them. Glaceon couldn't do anything at the moment as Buneary happily sat herself down next to Pikachu, so now basically; Pikachu is inbetween Glaceon and Buneary.

Curious as she is, she asked Gliscor who was next to her what happened to the two while she was gone. Gliscor happily complied and whispered to her every detail he knew as Buneary's eyes widened in shock, Glaceon made a move without her knowing about it. Rage and jealousy filled her mind at the ice-type pokemon.

She gritted her teeth hard and glared at the ice-type pokemon who wasn't happy at all after she came over. Gliscor, on the other hand, realized its mistake and backed away from Buneary a bit, rage of fire was enveloping her body, but suddenly, the flame disappeared as she gave a smile at Gliscor and thanked it, while Gliscor was relieved, at first it thought that something bad was going to happen.

Buneary slowly moved herself closer to Pikachu while her rival watched closely at her. The group was currently sharing jokes with each other and laughed everytime a pokemon shares a good one, but Glaceon and Buneary weren't laughing, Glaceon was busy staring at her rival while Buneary crept closer to Pikachu who was feeling nervous and uncomfortable at the unpleasant atmosphere surrounding him.

When it was Glaceon's turn to share a joke or interesting thing, she took her eyes away from her rival for a bit, but at the middle of the joke, she stopped when everyone suddenly wasn't paying attention to her and was staring at someone beside her.

She turned her head to Pikachu and was shocked, Buneary placed her arms around Pikachu's neck and kissed him to the cheeks, how daring she was since it was in front of everybody, especially to her rival. Everyone's jaws dropped in surprise then yelled loudly for Pikachu, teasing him that he got two girls falling for him while Buneary covered her face with her fur and blushed deeply, Pikachu stunned, blushed, and embarrassed again while steam were coming out of Glaceon's ears.

That unusual feeling throbbed into Pikachu's body again, especially his heart was racing faster than normal while that dream he had last night began to insert itself back to his head. He lost his appetite and freaked out, yelling at the top of his voice, feeling so confused and weird that he couldn't take it anymore and ran towards his trainer and jumped on his lap.

"Hey, Pikachu, what's wrong with you? Why did you yell like that?" Ash asked his best friend and stroked his back, comforting the pokemon.

"Pika…pika…" Pikachu mumbled while pressing his face against his shirt.

"Hmm… Looks like neither Glaceon nor Buneary was giving Pikachu a break…" May said as she stared at Glaceon and Buneary close together, and that space inbetween the two must be where Pikachu was seated.

They all stared at the two suspects who seemed to be the cause of Pikachu's sudden behavior. The two looked down ashamed and guilty for what they done, they were maybe doing too much to the poor yellow mouse pokemon.

"Well I think that Glaceon and Buneary are acting like Brock, and one Brock is already a pain in the neck whenever we meet a girl." Dawn said as Ash and May chuckled, true, both Glaceon and Buneary were acting like Brock's behavior whenever he sees a woman, but in this case, Pikachu, as they continued to impress and get his attention without giving him a break.

"Very funny Dawn…"

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It was now time to retire for the night, everyone went back to the guest room where they were staying, Luke said that they will be jogging again tomorrow so they should get as much rest as possible, while our favorite brunette coordinator could only frown for the terrible morning workout after her sleep.

May, Mary, and Dawn sat in Mary's bed, doing some girl talk obviously. Ash was sitting on his bed with Pikachu already asleep in his arms, probably tired from the long day it had, Brock was checking something in his backpack while Paul was on the bathroom.

Buneary and Glaceon were at their trainer's beds, glaring at each other, those glares accusing each other for making Pikachu freak out like that.

"So Dawn, how did your day go with Paul?" May asked her.

"Why is it that people always keeps on bringing that question up?" Dawn complained, clearly frustrated.

"Come on Dawn, we're your friends, plus we can keep a secret." May said as she and Mary nodded in unison with wide, curious smiles on their faces, as Dawn sighed in defeat. She told her story to the two from the commotion in the square up to coming back here while skipping the constant teasing part about them being a couple of course.

"In the end of the day, I began to think differently about Paul. He wasn't that arrogant jerk before, now he was protective and…nice." Dawn blushed a little at the end of her statement, May and Mary was just silent and stunned by her story.

"So, do you like Paul?" Mary asked out of curiosity.

"…Kind of." Dawn involuntarily said and realizing it later on and blushed deeply in embarrassment, leaving May and Mary surprised. Dawn does like Paul as the two laughed hard at her confession. Then, the bathroom door suddenly opened as Paul came with his PJs of a sweater and jogging pants.

"Speaking of which, here comes Paul. Hey Paul! Dawn said that-" May looked at the lavender-haired trainer and shouted out to him, Dawn quickly realized her plan and quickly covered her mouth with her hand while Paul raised an eyebrow about what were they doing.

"What she was trying to say is it's getting late! Can you turn off the light for us please?" Dawn nervously said while her hand was still on May's mouth. Paul stared at her for a bit before complying, he shut off the light, making the room quickly pitch-black with only the moonlight outside their window as their guide back to their beds.

May and Dawn went back to their beds, petting their pokemon and saying good night, tucked themselves in their blanket. Ash placed Pikachu to the other side of his bed carefully to not disturb his sleep and lied down on his bed while Paul and Brock followed afterwards. They all shared good nights with each other before they dozed off to sleep.

ZzzZzzZzzZzz

Everyone was asleep, well most of them really, from Dawn's bed, Buneary quickly stood up and inspected the room, everyone was asleep, although she couldn't see her rival through the darkness, she should be asleep as well. Lucky for her, her plan was going smoothly, Glaceon had her fun without her around, now it was her turn.

She quietly jumped off Dawn's bed and crept towards Ash's bed where Pikachu was sleeping, she slowly grabbed the ledge of the bed and pulled herself up, it was hard for her hands, but jumping instead may wake Pikachu up.

Finally, Buneary pulled her whole body up, she gussied herself up from looking at Pikachu, but suddenly, a pair of eyes were looking at her, Buneary looked closer as the pair of eyes went closer as well, they were deep sapphire eyes. Buneary's eyes widened in surprise to see her rival was also on top of Pikachu's bed.

Was she also planning sleeping beside Pikachu without him knowing? One thing's for sure, they didn't learn their lesson back at the dining room. The two love rivals stared at each other for a while before they made some silent growls and hisses at each other.

This went on for a couple of minutes before Buneary thought of something and whispered to her rival. It was interesting, but Glaceon wasn't too sure if she could trust someone like her. The ice-type pokemon thought this for a while and eventually agreed.

Simultaneously, they slowly moved out of Ash's bed and walked back to their trainer's bed while keeping a sharp eye to each other in case if anyone of them plans to break the agreement. They both jumped back to their bed and curled themselves up in their usual sleeping position.

But, neither of them really trust each other and doubt if their agreement will last; every time they rested their head down for a while, they raised it back up to see if anyone made a move, and unknowingly for them, they did this for the whole night.

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Another great morning has arrived and greet our heroes as Luke prepared themselves outside the gate of his house, after a few stretching exercises to activate those muscles, off they go. Luke was the first as usual, followed by Paul then Mary and Brock, then Ash and Dawn and finally May, who was already aching at the stretching exercise.

After a half-hour jogging exercise, they stop at the cliff near his house for a break. Almost everyone were covered in sweat and breathing heavily. May could be seen walking towards the group, clearly fatigued as well while Pikachu took deep long breaths to regain some needed oxygen back, he looked back to see Glaceon and Buneary on how they did. But, wait a minute, where are those two anyway?

"Pika! Pikachu!" He called out to his trainer as he quickly got the attention of everybody.

"What is it Pikachu? Is something wrong?" Ash asked and knelt down as Pikachu spoke continuously in their language while making poses to help understand better.

"Wait a minute, isn't Glaceon or Buneary with you Pikachu?" Dawn asked as Pikachu shook his head in response which shocked everybody.

"That's weird, those two usually sticks with Pikachu all the time." Brock said while scratching his head.

"Come on, let's go find them!" Mary said as everybody nodded in unison. They quickly ran, retracing their steps from the cliff back to his house, hoping they would spot the two who was suddenly missing. They quickly passed May who was just about to rest her tired legs.

"Aww come on, where do these people get their energy from?" May complained and slowly stood up again and tried to walk.

"Buneary and Glaceon are missing for your information…" Paul said, uninterested in joining the search party and decided to walk instead, passing by May.

"What?!" May shouted in shock and used every bit of strength to make her legs run again and sprinted as fast as her legs possibly could as she retraced their steps back.

After a few minutes has passed…

"Here they are, I found them you guys!" Mary shouted, alerting everyone as they ran as fast as they could to Mary. They all looked at the two, lying on the ground, fainted.

"Buneary, Glaceon! Are you two alright?" Dawn yelled out in concern as she knelt down and lifted Buneary in her arms, hoping there was any signs of life. Fortunately for her, the rabbit pokemon inhaled deeply, but was still out cold.

"Let's bring these two inside, I'll check on them." Luke said and lifted Glaceon to his arms and rushed inside the house with everyone followed behind.

-----------

Luke brought them outside a room and took Buneary and Glaceon with him and proceeded inside for examination while prohibiting the others from entering for a while. The gang stood quietly, Dawn praying her Buneary would be okay. After a short while, May could be seen running towards the group with sweat dripping from her body.

"Has anyone found my Glaceon?!" May shouted and slowed down to a complete stop and breathed heavily, she hasn't ran that long and hard for a very long time.

"Yes, we found Glaceon and Buneary but something happened…" Mary filled her in; her face was serious when May looked at her as fear raced in her mind.

"What? What happened? Tell me!" May asked while her hands grabbed Mary's arms.

"The two of them were suddenly lying on the ground, unconscious, and that's it!" Mary replied, while pulling her arms off hers. Upon hearing that, May's eyes widened in shock and fear, she lost her grip on Mary's and knelt down.

"May, take it easy will ya? Luke's checking on them right now." Ash said as he put his hands firmly on May's shoulders, trying to comfort the traumatized May.

"But Ash! Why were they unconscious and lying on the ground huh? Can you explain that to me?" May replied while holding back tears.

"I don't know, May, I don't know. We have to wait for Luke to finish. Come on May, you got to believe in your pokemon!" Ash said to her loudly as May stared at his face, he was serious and determined. Yes, she needs to believe and trust in her pokemon.

After a few minutes of silence, the door opened and everybody looked as Luke went out with a serious look on his face.

"Luke! Is Buneary and Glaceon okay?" Dawn asked in concern.

"I'm afraid…" Luke closed his eyes and slowly said.

"What?" Mary asked.

"to tell you all…"

"Yes?" Dawn asked.

"that Buneary and Glaceon…"

"Tell us!" May shouted.

"…are going to be okay!" Luke finished with a wide smile, making everyone fall on the ground.

"Dammit! That isn't funny at all Luke!" May complained as everyone looked at the silver-haired man with angry and annoyed faces.

"Why so serious? Is someone having an emotional breakdown here? Man, you guys have little to no faith on your pokemon. They're completely fine, they were just overfatigued, that's all." Luke simply said, as they all sighed in relief, at least they were going to be fine.

"But why were they overfatigued then?" Brock asked.

"Beats me, anyone should be energized after a good night's sleep, but I wonder what those two were doing last night?" Luke said.

"Come on inside and check up on them if you like." Luke said as he proceeded inside as everyone quickly entered the room.

They stared around the room. There were small machines and monitors surrounding the room, very similar to hospital rooms. And in the bed, were Buneary and Glaceon, covered with a white blanket and resting their head on a small, soft pillow and were sleeping peacefully.

"All they need is a good long rest and they're going to be good as new. Now why don't we have some breakfast." Luke suggested.

"But, who's going to look after those two then?" Dawn asked.

"Well Pikachu of course. I have a feeling that he's connected to why these two were overfatigued." Luke said simply and looked at Pikachu with a smile, the yellow mouse pokemon bent his head sideward in confusion but agreed to check on the two.

"I'll send some food for the three of you, okay? So stay put and take good care of them okay?" Luke said as Pikachu happily complied.

"We'll come back later Pikachu, be a good pokemon!" Ash said and waved at Pikachu as they went outside the room, Pikachu waved back and nodded.

And with that, the gang left Pikachu to take care of the two sleeping girls. He climbed back to the bed and checked on the two, they seem to be sleeping peacefully, after checking out the room, he finally sat down between the two. There's pretty much nothing he can do but wait until they wake up.

The soft cushion of the bed was really comforting for Pikachu as he cooed lightly, then he gradually became sleepy, he slowly rested his back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, there's nothing wrong in taking a nap, plus his feet were still tired from jogging.

"Bun…" "Glae…" The two pokemon moaned in unison as Pikachu quickly rose up to a sitting position and stared at the two, but they seem to be sleeping, probably enjoying their sleep pretty well.

Then Pikachu suddenly stared at Buneary's face up close since he was just next to her, he looked at her chocolate-brown fur, her fluffy long ears with one ear curled up and her small mouth slowly inhaling and exhaling. He checked her lips and saw some moisture around it, probably saliva which made him blush a bit.

He quickly realized and shook his head repeatedly to make the blush go away and took a deep long breath to regain his focus, he then stared at Glaceon's face, her sky blue fur, pointy nose, her smooth and shiny looking hair that covered her face and dangled to her side, and her mouth wide open and smiling lightly while a single drool could be seen coming from her mouth.

Pikachu quickly looked away before the blush would reappear on his cheeks again. But upon closer inspection of Glaceon and Buneary's face, they did look very cute up close, although they have different features, they were still cute and beautiful in their own way.

But thinking that made Pikachu blush deeply, he was now thinking about the two again as his heart beat faster. He quickly shook his head and slapped his cheeks repeatedly until the blush were gone, he sighed deeply, the blushes were now gone but were replaced with light red marks due to his constant slapping to his cheeks.

He rested his back on the bed with his hands covering his eyes to prevent him from looking either of the two sleeping next to him. He was getting sleepy again, the quiet atmosphere and the comfort of the bed was slowly dozing Pikachu off, but before his eyes became completely shut, he felt something move and then something a little heavy was placed over him.

He opened his eyes as they became widened in shock. Glaceon and Buneary turned to their side towards Pikachu, Buneary's face was just next to Pikachu, her arm was on his chest and her leg was on his thighs while Glaceon placed her long arm over his neck and her face also next to his.

Pikachu tried to move but to no avail, he was completely immobilized and if he used force to break free, he might end up waking the two. Poor Pikachu, he thought that this would go well for him without any kind of mishaps happening.

He could feel the two breathing peacefully but everytime they exhaled, it tickled his ears as they twitched involuntarily, then followed by Glaceon leaning closer and rubbed her face against his cheeks, afterwards, Buneary's hand slowly rotated on his chest, giving him an unsuspected massage. How can Pikachu last longer, he closed his eyes tightly and endured the sensation he was receiving from the two, wishing he should have watched over them away from the bed, how Pikachu wished that the group would finish eating already and check up on them, but wait a minute, if they saw him with the two all over him, it would create a misunderstanding. How will Pikachu get out of this mess?

----------

"Hey Pikachu, we're back, here's some food for you." Ash said as he opened the door while carrying a tray filled with pokemon food.

He checked the bed, Glaceon and Buneary were still sleeping while Pikachu was on a chair beside the bed, lying on his belly, his eyes were completely shut and was breathing heavily.

"Hey Pikachu. What happened?" Ash asked as Pikachu raised his paws at Ash and waved them sidewards, not wanting to be disturbed at the moment and then rested again.

"Looks like these two are still sleeping like a Snorlax all right." Dawn said as she stared at the two still sleeping soundly, their backs against each other, luckily for Pikachu as he managed to make his escape before they came in.

After a while, the two slowly opened their eyes and slowly rose to their feet, stretched out their limbs and giving out a big yawn, feeling refreshed and ready to go.

"See guys? All they need is some rest and they're back to their usual self. But Pikachu there seems to be very beat up." Luke said and then looked at Pikachu with concern.

"Hey Glaceon, feeling better?" "Buneary, how do you feel?" The trainers asked their respective pokemon as they replied back happily, then followed by sounds of stomach grumbling coming from their stomach and followed by blushes of embarrassment from the two of them.

"Hungry? Well here's some breakfast for the two of you." Brock said as he carried two trays of pokemon food and placed in front of Glaceon and Buneary as they thanked him and began to munch down.

"Hey Pikachu, you need to eat your breakfast too." Ash said to his pokemon but refused to move. Luke then went to him and lifted a surprised Pikachu on his arms and placed him on the bed. Then he placed his hands on his back and gave him a massage.

Pikachu eventually cooed upon the heavenly feeling as Luke worked all around his back for a minute.

"Feeling better Pikachu? Are you hungry?" Luke leaned down, looking at Pikachu at eye-level as the electric-type pokemon nodded happily and rose himself up to a sitting position, then Luke grabbed the tray out of Ash's hands and placed it in front of Pikachu who quickly munched down his meal.

"Wow. How did you do that?" An astonished Mary asked.

"It's just something I learned in massage therapy class, what I did earlier was a simple procedure to help pokemon regain its appetite back, very useful when you're facing pokemon who refuses to eat." Luke simply said and stood back up, everyone else was just stunned in amazement by what this guy can do.

"So you're a trainer, coordinator, breeder, doctor, and also a therapist? Wow." Dawn said in amazement.

"I just love to learn everything about pokemon, that's why I try out different fields about them, I'm even amazed at myself for being able to achieve all of this." Luke replied while stretching his arms out wide.

"But enough about me, after they have done eating, how does training sound? The tournament is just a day away you know. The usual place just like yesterday." Luke said as he proceeded outside the room. The tournament begins tomorrow and they need to be at their best if they wanted to win, plus anyone of them has to face each other eventually.

Now they just need to let the three finish their meals first before they all go to the garden. But where did Paul go anyway?

----------

"Man, you guys are so slow." The group was greeted by Luke's voice as they were back at the same training field yesterday. Paul was also there.

"Okay, partners are as follows: May vs Paul, Dawn vs Brock, and Ash and Mary vs me for another round of double battle, how does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me, I want some payback!" Ash said, clenching his fists and looking at the silver-haired man with great determination. Everybody were contented with their battle partners, well most of them, May wasn't too enthusiastic with Paul as her partner while he didn't care who his partner was anyway.

_to be continued…_

**---------------**

**Sweet Ikarishipping, and your favorite pokemon triangle moments. I'm sorry if there isn't any advanceshipping in this chapter, but I'll make it up in the next chapters so don't fret about it.**

**The tournament is just a day away as the gang needs to be on their top shape when it starts, so stay tuned everybody.**

**P.S. Does anybody know any good fanfiction sites other than this one so I can get more reviews in my story. Thanks a bunch :D**


	10. Chapter 10: Trust

**----------------**

**CHAPTER 10**

**Trust**

**---------------**

The gang was at the garden again for another round of practice sessions, although they just finished the morning practice battles, they seemed to be very excited for the upcoming tournament.

Dawn watched everyone who were very busy, Ash was instructing his pokemon as they clustered in front of him and listened intently to the new strategies he just thought of which could work for his last gym battle. May's pokemon called on her pokemon to play together as they all happily agreed and seemed to be playing tag, May and Mary seemed to be busy talking to each other while the brunette coordinator made some striking poses which were probably contest moves she want to share it with.

Luke was away to check on his restaurant as usual, and that leaves Paul. The huge tortoise pokemon, Torterra was the first one she noticed, and then followed by his other pokemon: Honchkrow was standing on its head and cleaning itself, Weavile and Magmar were lying on the ground, enjoying the soft breeze, and Ursaring was eating some berries from a nearby bush, was there anyone else she's missing?

Wait, Paul has an Electabuzz right? But where's that lavender-haired trainer anyway? She looked around and went closer to his side and quickly noticed him by his hair.

"Where's Paul going to?" The blue-haired coordinator asked herself.

She looked at the lavender-haired trainer carrying a long fishing pole resting on his right shoulder, and with his other hand on his pocket as usual, proceeded to the gate of the house.

Curious on what Paul was doing, Dawn felt like spying on him again, the others wouldn't mind having her gone again, but she did promise to tell them before she starts of run off again.

"Hey guys, I'll just go to town and you know, stroll around by myself…" Dawn thought of a terrible excuse for leaving off again.

"Are you sure you want to go with yourself, I'll be happy to accompany you if you want." May said.

"How about we can all go to town and do some window shopping? That would be fun." Mary suggested.

"Hey, that sounds like a good idea Mary, c'mon what do you say Dawn?" An excited May asked her.

"Uhh, that won't be necessary thank you…" Dawn sweatdropped as May leaned her face closer and closer to Dawn.

'I can sense that she wants to go with that lavender-haired boy alone…' A familiar voice said in Mary's mind as she turned around and shocked to see her Gardevoir next to her.

'Hmm, I see…' Mary telepathically replied, as a wide smirk grew on her face, now she know why.

"C'mon May, if Dawn wants to go by herself, we should let her right?" Mary said as she pulled May away from Dawn.

"T-thanks Mary! Well, I'll be seeing you guys." Dawn said happily and quickly ran off while waving her hand at them.

"Come back soon Dawn, don't be late!" Mary replied back and also waved back at her.

Dawn sped off to the entrance of the house, hoping to catch up with Paul, luckily, she quickly saw him as he proceeded away from town which made her wonder why, but made her more curious about him.

"So Mary, why'd you let Dawn go by herself?" May asked as Mary leaned closer and whispered to her ear as the brunette coordinator listened word per word and soon her eyes widened in surprise at the whole truth. She giggled by how her friend makes up weird excuses just to follow Paul around and without telling them.

But inside, there's a part of her that makes her so envious of Dawn, when she likes a guy, she really goes for it and learn everything about him. Unlike May, she was afraid to know more about that black-haired trainer that showed her the ropes on her start of her own journey.

She began recalling that particular love novel again, and how did they get closer to each other's heart and eventually find true love. But somehow, she couldn't remember a single thing about that. Sighing, she looked at the trainer with great interest.

"Hey, looks like Ash's training his Pikachu, c'mon let's go watch!" Mary said which broke her from her thoughts and sent her back to reality as she realized she was daydreaming. Quickly, she followed Mary to where Ash was doing his training session.

"Pikachu, use Volt Tackle!" Ash ordered as Pikachu began to gain speed, channeling electricity to envelop his whole body with a powerful, glowing yellow aura, only revealing a blurry figure of Pikachu while leaving a trail of electricity behind.

The other pokemon stopped momentarily to watch Pikachu as that marvelous display of Volt Tackle quickly dazzled them. Glaceon and Buneary were the most impressed as they loudly cheered for the yellow mouse pokemon despite getting weird looks from the other pokemon.

Pikachu's ears twitched as he heard the two's constant cheers and looked at them while unknowingly, he was going towards the trunk of a large tree. First, he blushed at the praises and comments from the two of them, but suddenly, their cheers became warnings and 'watch out' signs as he looked confused.

When Pikachu looked back, only did he realize that he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and was also too late to stop in this speed.

WHAM!

Pikachu's head collided with hard, rough, tough bark of the tree but proved no match against its superior thickness as it absorbed the whole blow without even bending or falling a leaf from its branches. His body shook rapidly from the powerful impact, losing his balance and fell to the ground on his back.

"Hey Pikachu, are you okay?" Ash shouted as the group quickly ran towards Pikachu with Glaceon and Buneary leading the way.

"Bun! Buneary!" "Glae, Glaceon!" The two love rivals shouted to Pikachu, setting aside that rivalry for this time only for their object of love and affection was hurt badly. Pikachu slowly opened his eyes, but upon doing so, his vision became blurry and weird, it seems like Glaceon and Buneary, who were the first ones he saw were spinning around him while hearing their faint cries to him.

Finally, he fell unconscious, big swirls formed from his eyes as his mouth was wide open with a little drool coming out from it. Glaceon tried to move Pikachu by pushing her head against his body, while Buneary shaked his shoulder repeatedly, both of them were really concerned.

"Hmm, looks like Pikachu got hit hard all right." The spiky haired man said as he knelt down and inspected the large red swelling that formed on Pikachu's head.

"Is he going to be all right Brock?" Ash asked, concerned for the state his pokemon was in.

"It's nothing serious really, but Pikachu needs to lay off for a while." Brock continued.

"I'll just get some bandage in my backpack, okay?" Brock said, stood up, and walked back to the house.

"Hmm… I do remember that everytime I get bruises like these; Mom would usually kiss it to make it go away." May said to herself, recalling all those accidents she had back when she was just a child.

Quickly, two pairs of ears quickly twitched upon hearing May's statement. Glaceon and Buneary smirked widely by the new idea they got. But when they looked at Pikachu, their eyes were suddenly set on each other as sparks coming from their eyes collided with each other as another showdown was about to begin.

-----------------

Meanwhile…

Dawn was again spying on Paul carrying a long fishing rod and walking away from town. They walked past a pathway covered with trees and bushes which served as a good hiding spot for Dawn. They were already out of town and Dawn still has no clue to where he was going.

Paul, on the other hand, noticed nothing suspicious around him as continued to walk towards his destination. And why was he doing out here in the first place again?

_**FLASHBACK**_

"Although, I prefer a Buizel. It's agile, it's strong, and very reliable when I need its help." Alicia said, stood up on the chair and made quick poses, her mind on a different dimension right now, portraying herself as a trainer with a Buizel as her pokemon while in a battle against another trainer.

And while they were eating the afternoon snack that Grace, Alicia's mother prepared for her…

"Hey Paul, do you know what this is?" Alicia revealed a necklace to Paul. It was a small, golden clock as Alicia opened the locket I don't really know what this is called , revealing a small picture of a woman with blonde hair with chocolate eyes and beside her, a man with brown hair and deep emerald eyes and was holding a baby in his arms with small strands of blonde hair visible on the head.

"…It's a picture of a family." Paul simply said.

"Actually it's my family, that's me, my mother, and my father…" Alicia said as she pointed it to Paul, but when she pointed to her father, her bright and cheerful face became sad, as tears began to form.

"What's wrong?" Paul noticed this and asked her in concern.

"Oh it's nothing…" Alicia quickly wiped the tears from her eyes with her arm and tried to make a smile to Paul.

"It's just I never really did meet my father, I was still a newborn baby when Dad mysteriously disappeared… But Mom always told me he was a great and heroic man; he was a fisherman who became a hero who saved many lives." Alicia said, feeling more confident now.

"Actually, that is the main reason why I wanted a Buizel in the first place." Alicia said.

"What is it?" Paul asked, getting really interested in her story.

"My father had a Floatzel as his companion, do you know that big floatation sacs they have around their necks, well, it acts like a lifesaver and that's what they use to save people from drowning. I want to have a Buizel so that I can save people just like Dad did."

"Hey Paul, look at this." Alicia pulled a small, sharp, white tooth tied up a thick brown string, making it a necklace.

"What is it? Looks like a fang to me…" Paul inspected the tooth.

"Yes, plus it's from a Floatzel, well, that's what my Dad's friends told me when they took a good look on it. Here, I want you to have it." Alicia said and moved her hand with the necklace towards Paul.

"Wait, why would you want to give this to me? It must be special for you, right?" A surprised Paul asked and rejected her offer.

"Floatzels are one of the best companions a water pokemon trainer has, that fang symbolizes trust, courage, and friendship. You're a good listener Paul, and I truly appreciate that, you're the first person outside this family that I shared my story with, and I know you're really a good and courageous man inside, that's why I trust you." Alicia said and smiled.

Those words struck Paul to the heart, he never heard or known someone telling him that seriously straight in the face, except for his brother Reggie of course. He felt lighter at that moment, being called a good and courageous man was new to him. He never really liked to interact with other people especially at his age and below, but Alicia seems to be different from anyone else he knows. She treated him as a friend unlike most of the people he knew.

Paul slowly took the necklace from her hands and looked at it once more.

'_Trust, Courage, and Friendship huh?' _Paul thought, he made a light smirk and clenched it tightly.

"Thank you… Alicia." Paul said as he placed the necklace in his pocket. He looked at the window outside as the sun began to set in, looks like it's time for him to go.

_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

Paul stared at his hand, holding the fang necklace Alicia gave to him and placed it back in his pocket. But after he removed his hand from his pocket, he heard the sound of a twig breaking in half, but somehow, Paul immediately knew who was following him.

"You can come out now." Paul stopped in his tracks and turned around. The spy gulped, that small branch she accidentally stepped on gave her away as she slowly revealed herself to Paul, a little embarrassed.

"Following me again aren't you? Do as you wish…" Paul let out a sigh and then went back to his way, leaving Dawn pretty surprised, she was expecting a good scolding from him, plus she has no excuse to think of right now, if there was any. Well, since she's out in the open and Paul already knows she's here, she might as well go with him without hiding anymore.

"So Paul, where are you going with that fishing pole?" Dawn asked, hoping to break the silence between the two.

"Fishing, what else?" Paul flatly replied. Dawn felt a bit frustrated, but she had to admit, it was a dumb question, what else would you use a fishing rod for? She thought to herself as she quietly followed behind Paul.

As they reached the end of the path, they could see a large lake a few meters away from them, which Paul proceeded to.

Dawn was surprised when she got to see the lake up close, a huge number of water pokemon were visible and were playing together. Paul pulled out a pokeball from his pocket as it popped open in mid-air, revealing his electric-type pokemon.

"Electabuzz!" Electabuzz roared and looked at its trainer eagerly, awaiting his commands.

"I'll be fishing some water pokemon, when I catch one, you know what to do, got it?" Paul plainly said to his pokemon with his usual emotionless state as it nodded and followed him as he went towards a good location for fishing.

He sat down and fixed his fishing pole a bit and tossed the lure to the water which looked like a good spot for him. Dawn sat down a few feet away beside Paul since she was still shy about him. Electabuzz stood beside its trainer, prepared to strike any water pokemon his master caught with its powerful electric attacks.

"So Paul? What water pokemon are you going to catch?" Dawn asked loudly enough so Paul can hear her.

"… A Buizel."

"A Buizel? Now why would you want a Buizel for?" Dawn asked again.

"It's for someone okay? Sheesh, why can't anyone mind their own business?!" Paul replied harshly, clearly annoyed.

"I'm sorry okay? You don't have to be so rude you know." Dawn replied back, also annoyed by his sudden outburst of words.

Silence again filled the atmosphere between the two as they quietly watched the lure floating still, no signs of movement at all or any pokemon taking any interest.

'_Why is it so hard to talk to him?_' Dawn thought to herself and looked at the lavender-haired trainer, he seems to be calm and determined to catch that Buizel.

Ten minutes have passed, both Dawn and Electabuzz gave out a yawn of boredom while Paul's expression didn't seem to change one bit, maybe he has cooled off.

"So who do you plan to give that Buizel once you caught it?" Dawn asked a question, hoping to get some more answers from him. Unfortunately, Paul remained silent, refusing to answer her question as she continued to hug her knees, a little disappointed.

Another ten minutes have passed, as the lure remained untouched by the water pokemon. Dawn was getting sleepy and extremely bored, regretting to herself on why did she come, Electabuzz, on the other hand, was so bored that he secretly left his trainer and went towards a bush filled with Oran berries and gave himself a tasty feast.

Paul was also getting sleepy, his eyes were gradually coming down, but he needed to be awake as he shook his head repeatedly to regain his focus.

Finally, the lure moved, which got Paul's attention and stood up, suddenly the line was getting pulled as Paul held his fishing rod tightly and began to reel it in while following the pokemon's course of direction so the line wouldn't break. Dawn also stood up and watched it in excitement.

And with one strong pull, Paul lifted the pokemon out from beneath as it revealed itself to the two. Much to Paul's surprise and luck, it was a Buizel with the lure in its mouth.

It landed on solid ground graciously near Dawn, wetting the ground as it shook its body to rid off some water from its fur, hitting Dawn with a few droplets of water.

"Hey, stop it!" Dawn said as cold water touched her bare skin and clothes, causing her to jump and shiver a bit while the Buizel stopped, looked at her, and bent its head sideward in confusion.

"…Oh yeah, Electabuzz, get in here and use Thunderbolt!" Paul came to realization as he called out to his pokemon, but as he turned to his side where Electabuzz should be, his pokemon was suddenly gone, he looked around and quickly noticed the yellow-colored pokemon happily stuffing itself with berries.

"Electabuzz, get your butt over here this instant!" Paul shouted in outrage as Electabuzz became shocked upon hearing him as it quickly turned around but stumbled, showing his face covered with berry contents.

Buizel, quickly saw this a chance and sprayed a Water Gun attack from its mouth which aimed towards Paul, hitting him right below the belt with the lure with it causing a sudden surge of pain throughout his body.

Paul knelt down to his knees with his head falling to the ground while his hands held his crotch, trying to endure the now immense pain he was having due to the impact from the lure, plus the cold temperature from the Water Gun attack that drenched that part of his pants, giving him extreme discomfort.

"Paul, are you okay?" Dawn ran towards Paul, who was clenching his manhood; she rubbed his back in concern. The Buizel, on the other hand, felt guilty on what it had did and slowly went over to their side and patted Paul on the back of his head.

"Dammit, Electabuzz, t-teach this a l-lesson…" Paul managed to say as he slowly raised his head, anger formed on his face as the pokemon exploited the weakness of a man. Electabuzz stood forward and glared at Buizel intently as wild sparks formed from its antenna.

The Buizel quickly became scared and hid itself behind Dawn. Paul slowly rose to his feet as the pain was slowly fading away, he looked at the Buizel intently, its eyes were a little wider from that of Ash's Buizel as it watered to tears, it put its hand at its mouth while the other hand clenched Dawn's shirt tightly, while it's dual tail curled up slightly, resembling a heart, this Buizel was obviously a female and was begging for mercy to Paul.

"C'mon Paul, she didn't really mean to." Dawn tried to defend the Buizel.

Paul felt a little moved by this pokemon as it made a cute face to him as he felt a bit embarrassed and stopped his Electabuzz, who also felt embarrassed and scratched the back of its head.

"So Paul, what are you going to do with her now that she's in front of you? Catch her? But you already have six pokemon in your team." Dawn asked as she petted Buizel's head as it cooed in her soothing touch, Paul, on the other hand was thinking about it, he already has six pokemon with him, and if he catches her now, he had to go to a pokemon center to retrieve it first.

Paul slowly stood up after taking a deep breath, the pain was slowly subsiding, but it took away his energy and somehow his pride, still feeling uneasy and uncomfortable to the cold shivers his below was suddenly, he stumbled, lost his balance and fell forward.

"Paul, watch out!" Dawn called out as she quickly leaned herself towards him, preventing him from falling to the ground, despite Paul's weight directly against her, she was able to hold him for a while, Paul was clearly surprised and stunned by her sudden act to save him from a rough, dirty fall.

But this time, it was a much closer distance between the two; his face was just beside hers and resting on her shoulder, his hands were around her back unknowingly. But Paul's mind went elsewhere, he could smell the fragrance of her long, blue hair, his chin was against her bare shoulder and he could feel her smooth, bare skin, and his hands, this was also the first time he touched someone this way, but now he was confused on how his hands were around her.

"Uhh, Paul, you can get off of me now…" Dawn embarrassingly said to the spaced out trainer who was still leaning over her as she struggled against his weight, Paul quickly snapped to realization and backed himself away from her, deep blushes formed from each other's faces as they looked away from each other.

Buizel, on the other hand, was confused, she put her hand over her mouth and stared at the two's blushing faces with interest, then she giggled loudly.

"Hey, what's so funny?" Dawn asked out of anger and embarrassment as Buizel continued to giggle.

Paul gave out a deep sigh as he kept his cool again, he approached the Buizel and knelt down and looked at her seriously in the eye as the Buizel quickly stopped and gulped down in fear.

"Do you want to come with me? There's someone who really wants to meet you." Paul flatly said as Buizel thought about his offer deeply, then looked at the lavender-haired trainer and gave a happy nod.

Paul recalled his Electabuzz and retraced his steps back towards town while the two quickly ran towards his side. Buizel felt eager in meeting the person that lavender-haired trainer was referring to as well as to see the world outside her habitat.

The next passing minutes were spent in silence, Paul and Dawn weren't still striking a conversation to each other as this made Buizel confused, it looked at the two curiously with her paw still over her mouth as they all headed back to civilization.

Astonished by the new surroundings, the water pokemon kept on looking around until she caught sight of three people coming to their direction. It was a man, a woman and a child between the two, a family in short.

Buizel got interested on how the child who was almost the same height as hers. The child was holding on the hands of the two, jumping and was smiling widely while the two were also smiling, clearly they were having a good time with each other.

Buizel looked at her paw, if she could hold hands with both Paul and Dawn, and since she was between the two, it would help lighten up the mood and the dull atmosphere between the two.

She grabbed Paul's hand and pulled him as she reached out and grabbed Dawn's hand with her other paw and were now imitating the child's movements. Dawn and Paul were shocked and tried to pull their arm off her, but her grip was tight all right as she pulled the two of them quite easily.

The sudden force Buizel made almost made the two stumble but quickly regained their balance, then the two stopped moving in surprise as they realized their faces were only inches away from touching, blushes formed from their faces as they backed away from each other.

The family of three noticed what was going on, as the parents giggled at the reaction of the two while the child looked at them confused.

"Ah, young love…" The mother sweetly said to her partner.

"Heh, they were just like us when we starting dating, isn't that right hon?" The husband replied sweetly as the two leaned closer, giving each other a quick smooch as they passed by them and giggled loudly.

Embarrassed and blushing, Paul walked quickly ahead of the two, Dawn was far behind him to not get anymore misunderstanding from happening from the two again while Buizel was confused again.

---------------

Meanwhile…

"Ooohhh…. look at all those pokemon…" A man said to his teammates as he looked through his binoculars and checked out the huge garden as almost every pokemon species were present in there, peacefully grazing.

"And loik, thowz twoips ar hear two!" A small figure replied as he zoomed in his binocular to the twerps that keeps on thwarting their plans every encounter.

"As long as Pikachu is there, we will never give up, do we team?" A female figure said and raised her arm as her two teammates also raised their arms in agreement followed by a sinister giggles as they slowly moved out from the tree and proceeded with their plan. Team Rocket, as always, never learn do they?

"Hey, what's that over there?" May asked and pointed at the sky as a weird-looking figure was floating towards them.

It was a huge robot, it had a small, rounded shaped head and a larger rounded shaped body with several hanging tubes with large suction cup-like things in each end, as the weird looking robot was slowly becoming more and more into view as the big red letter-R became visible, as everyone realized their annoying trios trying to catch their pokemon again.

"Ugh, Team Rocket! Not those guys again!"Ash shouted as the Team Rocket robot was getting closer and closer to the garden.

"All those overtime and night shifts really did pay off, ain't that right Jessie?" James said as he laid back in his seat with his head resting on his hands.

"Yeah, and this time, we'll be sure to get that Pikachu along with the other pokemon!" Jessie replied as the two raised their fists up high and cheered.

"Why do I feel it's like déjà vu all over again…" Meowth said to himself and sighed deeply, somewhere in this so-called 'brilliant' scheme of theirs should to have a flaw that ended them blasting off again and again.

"Ok Meowth, time for this contraption to do its magic." Jessie said to the small feline pokemon as it was his cue to start the machine. The tubes slowly raised and pointed each of them to the groups of pokemon and suddenly air was being sucked in, as one by one, the pokemon were lifted off and into the tube.

"Hey, stop that! You cannot steal other's pokemon!" May shouted as she ran towards the floating robot with her Glaceon following beside her.

"Now how many times did we hear that and come with the same answer, hmm?" Jessie replied through the mega phone followed by a sinister laugh, as the tubes increased their power as heavier pokemon began to be lifted off.

"Glaceon, use Shadow Ball!" May ordered as Glaceon leapt to the air and shot a large dark ball of energy towards a nearby tube, causing an explosion as May smirked by the direct attack which should destroy it.

But as the smoke subsided, the tube seemed to be undamaged at all, no scratches or whatsoever as her facial expression quickly changed.

"Oohh, trying to destroy our high-quality anti-twerp attack steel tubes I see, c'mon twerpette, we learned our lesson way way back and we know how to counter it!" It was James turn at the megaphone as the trio started to mock her, then the tube which she had attacked earlier pointed to her as slowly she was pulled in towards the tube.

"Hey May, look out!" Ash tried to warn her and tried to reach her with Glaceon on her side, but before she got to be lifted from the ground, a powerful force pushed her away.

She looked back to see Pikachu along with her trainer being lifted off the ground and into that tube, it was Pikachu obviously who had pushed her from harm.

"MAY! PIKACHU!" Ash shouted at the top of his voice and ran towards the tube, trying to save May and his best friend even if he gets sucked into that thing as well.

"Ash, stop!" Brock quickly grabbed Ash's hand and pulled him towards the ground.

"If you go, you'll get sucked in as well!" Brock warned Ash, but he already knew about this, all he could think about was to save May.

"But what about May and-" Ash replied, still concerned on her situation.

"Those two are a lot stronger than they look Ash, besides, those are Luke's pokemon Team Rocket's trying to steal and I doubt they're going to get away that easily." Brock said and smiled at Ash, which calmed him down a lot.

"Heh, you're right Brock." Ash replied. And right they are, as the rest of Luke's pokemon came running from the other side of the garden, and a huge flock of flying-types came soaring above.

A couple of Muks on the land let themselves get sucked in, but as they reached the tube, they expanded quickly and shut off each tube completely.

"Hey, what gives?!" Jessie complained as each tube tried to wriggle free, but it was no use, the Muks wouldn't let go.

"Uh-oh Jessie, I think we've alerted the rest of them." James said to her as he pointed to the monitor as a huge flock of flying-types came closing in to the robot. Then, an explosion occurred inside of them as Meowth pressed on some buttons as a monitor revealed a video of the pokemon they caught, which were attacking the robot from the inside.

"C'mon you guys, Team Rocket won't get away with this, let's give them all we've got and bring them down!" The human captive, May loudly said as it motivated the other pokemon as they continued their assault on the walls, as cracks slowly formed while Pikachu helped out with his own barrage of attacks.

A group of flying-types separated and dove in towards each of the tube shafts and delivered blows like Giga Impact, Drill Peck, Double Edge, Brave Bird, etc. which easily penetrated the strong steel and sliced them off as another huge explosion occurred beneath the giant robot.

Holes were formed from each of the destroyed shafts, soon, the captive pokemon appeared and one by one, they jumped off from the robot while some remained to deal some more damage to satisfy themselves. The other flying types quickly dove and caught them on their back for a safe landing.

Now, it was the land pokemon's turn, as they shot Hyper Beams, Solar Beams, Ice Beams, etc. aimed directly at the robot which dealt the finishing blow to their 'brilliant scheme yet'.

"Sigh, another of our hard work, ends up in rubbles…" Jessie moaned in defeat as explosions occurred inside of the room they were in as well.

"You know, if we calculated all of our savings before and didn't spend all of them on those stupid machines, we could've made a fortune by now…" James added.

"Hmm… somehow you're right about that…" Jessie replied.

"Yeah… coz I'm really gettin' old in chasing tat Pikachu of thoiz twoips…" Meowth said, also liking James's statement.

"So, turn over a new leaf and start an honest living from now on?" James said as he raised his hand facing downward to the two.

"Doysent hurt tuu try dough…" Meowth said as he placed his paw on top of James's.

"And who knows, we might even achieve those dreams we've been having, all those luxuries, food and many more goodies a lady like me should have…" Jessie said as she placed her hand on top of the two, as the trio finally agreed.

And with that, the head of the robot exploded, as the trio, covered in dirt, were flying across the horizon again.

"Looks like Team Rocket's turning over a new leaf!" The trio shouted in unison as they remained in their positions before they blasted off, their hands were still in contact with each other.

"What were those three saying? Turning over a new leaf?" May said to herself as she stood in the ledge of the hole, as anxiety and fear stopped her for a moment. She never really liked heights at all.

Then another explosion occurred inside the belly of the robot, causing May to be pushed back towards the ground butt-first, the explosion was getting a lot stronger and soon, the whole thing may explode along with her, if she doesn't get out fast.

She stood up to her feet, took a deep breath, grabbed Pikachu in her arms then prepared herself for the worst.

"Okay, here goes nothing!" May shouted as she ran towards the hole and jumped off the robot barely, as it immediately exploded into bits afterwards, the force of the explosion made her lose her grip on Pikachu as they were now panicking, fearing of getting squashed upon hitting land at a very long height from where she was as she closed her eyes and braced herself.

"MAY!" A loud voice called to her as she opened her eyes again and surprised to see that black-haired trainer running towards her along with Brock, Mary, and their pokemon.

Ash stopped when May was directly above him, he stood his ground, spread his legs and raised his arms forward and braced for the impact.

May landed on Ash's arms, her weight plus the force of gravity made him lose his balance a bit, almost making May fall, but quickly recovered. But then, he realized his hand was now holding something…soft and warm. Unknowingly, he pressed on it lightly and there he realized, he was holding a delicate part of a female while May, unknowingly moaned. Embarrassed, he quickly pulled his hands back which caused May to fall and hit dirt with her butt first.

"I'm sorry May, are you alright?" Ash asked her as he shook her shoulders with his hands. There was still huge pain in her butt as she slowly stood up with Ash as support, but couldn't say anything at all.

'He touched me…' May thought to herself, as mixed feelings dwindled inside her mind, Ash did save her from that nasty fall and he maybe didn't mean to touch her, but still, being touched by a man without ever expecting it makes you want to scream badly. She wondered if Ash thought of the same thing…

Pikachu, on the other hand, was still falling towards the ground, clearly yelling to get everyone's attention. Glaceon and Buneary quickly ran and tried to catch Pikachu, but how are they going to do it? Beats me…

Glaceon was on one side while Buneary was on the opposite side as went towards each other while still looking above, unknowingly noticing each other and…

WHAM! A head-on collision occurred between the two as they both fell backwards and was covering the sudden headache they got. With the two still stunned, who will save Pikachu from the fall?

_to be continued…_

**-------------------**

**Sorry for the long delay, it's hard to manage your time between school, sleep and necessities and this at the same time, and thinking up some good chapters and writing them down does takes a lot of time and effort, so there…**

**Plus, I personally think that Paul is a good person inside but is very shy to show it to anyone his age, IMO**

**And I don't know why, but Buizels for me are kinda cute :D**


	11. Chapter 11: Beginning

**This HAS been a very long delay folks and I am truly sorry for that, I truly missed writing this story and HOPEFULLY, I would focus and continue on this, thank you to all my supporters for your reviews which helped me improved on my story as well as my writing. **

**--------------------------**

**CHAPTER 11**

"I'm really sorry Paul, but Alicia isn't here at the moment. I sent her on an errand you see…" A tall, blonde-haired woman said.

Paul and Dawn were outside Alicia's house being greeted by her mother, Grace. Dawn was behind him with his recently 'caught' Buizel hiding behind her legs as Paul instructed, the pokemon could only stare in confusion at the conversation with the two with her hand over her mouth as usual.

"If you want to, you two could wait here for her and I'll make some batch of my homemade cookies." Grace suggested as she moved closer and was about to take their hands again and drag them into their house even though they didn't want to, just like yesterday.

"T-thank you for the hospitality, Ma'am. But I think it's better if I go back some other time." Paul slowly backed while keeping his arms at a safe distance. Fortunately, Grace didn't seem to mind as she stopped in her movement.

"You sure? Well, okay then. Drop by anytime you like, okay kids?" Grace said as Paul and Dawn bid farewell. But where they were about to leave their place…

"Oh Dawn, come here for a bit…" Alicia's mother called out to the blue-haired coordinator as she went back to the entrance, confused.

"What is it, Ma'am?" Dawn asked confused as Grace leaned closer to her face, placed her hand over her shoulder with a smirk on her face.

"Are you two dating?" She whispered to her ear as blushes instantly formed from her face.

"N-no! Of course not!" Dawn protested, but those blushes were telling otherwise.

"C'mon you don't have to be so shy about it; I can tell you some of my secrets in how to get him fall for you." Grace said while Dawn stared at her, although she didn't want to, or was too shy to do it, but it made her interested a bit.

"I know his type; he's just like my husband you see." Grace said as they both looked at the lavender-haired trainer who raised his eyebrow and stared back at them, obviously it was he the two were talking about as they turned back and talked again.

He crossed his arms and tapped his feet rapidly on the ground, he pretty much didn't like to be gossiped by anyone with him knowing and waiting as well. He could leave the two chatting and go straight home with Buizel.

He turned around and was about to leave until something tugged at his pants and preventing him from moving further. Paul stared below and saw that Buizel was gripping his pants tightly and pointing her other arm towards Dawn.

"Bui, bui…" Buizel said to him as they stared at each other's eyes. A few seconds later, Paul sighed in defeat, turned around again, facing the two with his hands inside his pockets and tapped his feet impatiently as they continued in their girly gossips from Paul's perspective.

"You really think it will work?" Dawn asked.

"Of course dear, I tried it myself, and it is always the first things you need to do in order to know the guy better." Grace said and gave her a wink as well as a thumbs up.

"Well, I like to chat and share more secrets with you, but I think that your friend over there seems to be getting impatient." Grace said as they both stared at him again while Paul was getting more frustrated again.

Dawn bowed down and bid farewell to Grace and went over to Paul, who seemed to be finally relieved as he turned around and started to walk.

The next minutes were spent in silence between the two. Paul still frustrated in waiting that long, Dawn thought of any good ways in order to make him talk, while Buizel could only stare at the two in confusion.

As they passed by a short bridge, a tall man who was in his twenties with a Eevee on his head, gently swaying it sideways as the pokemon enjoyed the ride. The two were laughing and seemed to be having fun.

Buizel stared at Paul's lavender-haired head and wanted to try it out for herself. Buizel quietly went closer to the back of his legs, and then sprang up to his back, making the trainer lose his balance as he was almost fell on his back. Dawn saw this and chuckled.

"Hey, get off!" Paul protested but Buizel simply ignored it as she continued to climb towards his shoulder and reach over his head.

"C'mon Paul, Buizel's just want to know what it feels like to be on top of another person's head." Dawn defended Buizel as she laid on her stomach at Paul's round head and was resting comfortably and enjoying the much higher view.

"Why don't you try it on for yourself, this thing is heavy…OW!" Paul protested as he tried to pull Buizel off his head, but failed eventually as everytime he tries to pull, Buizel would hold very firmly on the hair strands and gave him some painful sensations.

"Nah, besides… you look cute…" Dawn said as Paul was completely stunned by that statement until Dawn realized that sudden outburst of words much later on and quickly covered her mouth in shock.

"What I mean was, that Buizel looks cute on your head!" Dawn said and faked a laugh as blushes formed from both their faces. Paul couldn't even say anything at all as he quickly continued to walk at a fast pace, giving Buizel a rocky, but an enjoyable ride on top of his head. Dawn quickly caught up with the two and couldn't say anything as well.

'Man that was so embarrassing…' Dawn said to herself as those blushes became deeper. Both of them said nothing more except for Buizel who was enjoying the rocky ride as the three strolled their way back to Luke's place.

_Meanwhile…_

"What happened to those two?" The silver-haired man asked and pointing his finger towards Buneary and Glaceon lying on the blanket covered table with ice packs on their heads which were red and swollen from their painful contact with each other a while ago.

Ash, May and Mary were sitting at the sofa while Brock tended to their huge swelling on the head while their pokemon surrounded the living room.

"Well, they were trying to rescue Pikachu from falling down but instead, they collided with each other and this is the result." Mary explained the situation to him.

"…Okay…" Luke rubbed his chin, " Now why is Pikachu falling?"

"Oh yeah, Team Rocket tried to steal Pikachu along with your other pokemon-" The spiky-haired trainer replied.

"Oh, poachers. I encounter them once in a while, but all of them failed so there's no surprise if 'Team Rocket' also failed doing so." Luke interrupted.

"Oh yeah, how's Pikachu doing?" Luke asked and pointed at Pikachu lying on May's lap.

"Oh, he's doing fine!" May said while patting Pikachu's head, "It's a good thing that Mary sent out her Gardevoir and used Psychic on Pikachu, or else he would also end up like them."

"That's some quick thinking there, Mary." Luke said.

"Oh… thanks…" Mary said slowly as blushes formed from her face.

'Hey no fair! I saved Pikachu, I deserve the credit!' Her psychic pokemon wasn't really happy about that as she protested telepathically to her trainer.

'Oh hush, Gardevoir…' She replied while giggling.

"We're home!" A female voice loudly said as everybody looked to the source of the voice. He all stared stared at the door and saw Dawn and Paul together, and looks like there's a new visitor.

"Hey guys! How's your date?" May asked, teasing the two as they blushed in unison and stared at each other before looking away.

"Hey, is that…a Buizel?" Ash asked as he went over to have a closer look on the pokemon hiding behind Paul's legs, confused and somehow scared at the approaching man as the others followed behind, curious to see the guest.

Ash knelt down and leaned closer to Buizel who was getting frightened by him, sprayed a cold jet of water from her mouth to his face and making him land on his butt while dampening the floor.

"Hey, what was that for?" Ash protested, while wiping his drenched face with his sleeves and stood up.

"Looks like Buizel doesn't like you…" Paul said with a smirk.

"Oh yeah, do you think it even likes you?" Ash replied in a loud manner, Paul was getting on his nerves again.

"If it doesn't like me, then explain to me why is Buizel hiding behind me?" Paul replied flatly as Ash became silent.

"He does have a point, Ash…" May said.

Amidst of the pokemon, one pokemon mustered up the courage to greet the newcomer as he slowly made his way from the group. Ash's Buizel, stood in front of the group, he felt a throbbing feeling in his heart, mesmerized by the beauty of that female Buizel.

The other pokemon saw him and giggled loudly, as Buizel became more embarrassed and nervous as ever. He breathed deeply to gain some confidence within himself, however, he couldn't move his legs to approach the female. Gliscor whispered to the turtle pokemon, Grotle who was behind Buizel as it nodded in agreement and pushed Buizel on the back as he stumbled his way towards her.

Buizel faked a laugh to cover up his embarrassment as he was now in front of her. She was now staring at him confused, one hand was gripping tightly on Paul's pants while the other was on her mouth. Blushes formed from his face, she was so cute and beautiful in his eyes, making it much harder for him to concentrate.

"…Bui?" The female Buizel said, the tone of her voice tingled his body as the cute sound she made passed through his ears.

"Uh, what is he doing?" Paul asked Dawn, staring at Ash's Buizel who was really acting weird.

"I think Buizel's trying to talk to her. Don't interrupt them…" Dawn replied, leaning her head closer to have a better view at the two while resting her hands over his shoulders for support.

"Bui, bui, bui, bui, bui." Buizel said to her that only pokemon would understand as he crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and looked away from her, this would be better from making him become too distracted much.

He finished as he raised his paw towards her, proposing a handshake. The female Buizel stared at his paw for a while, then giggled cutely, then she removed her paw from her mouth and shook hands with him as other pokemon howled and cheered for them, making it more embarrassing for Ash's Buizel though, although, the female Buizel was clueless about this as she stared at their reactions blankly.

'If only you were like him, then you would've gotten Luke by now…' Gardevoir teased her trainer telepathically while smirking at her.

'Oh really? I could say the same to you, if you were like that, you would've gotten Gal- OW!' Mary replied but before finishing her statement, her pokemon delivered a quick, painful pinch to her arm.

----------------

"Take a long rest you guys, tomorrow's the big day and I expect all of you and your pokemon on tip-top shape." Luke said, standing at the entrance of their room.

"Don't worry Luke, we will." Ash assured him and patted Pikachu's head as he cooed by his warm touch.

"Well then, good night." And with that, he shut their door.

"Glaceon, I expect you to be at your best tomorrow, so take a good night's sleep okay?" May said to her pokemon as she nodded and curled up to her usual sleeping position while May tucked her in with her blanket.

"You too Buneary, you need your energy for tomorrow and a good night's sleep will do just the thing." Dawn said to her pokemon as Buneary positioned herself comfortably at the mattress and hugged her soft, fluffy fur with her hands.

The two love rivals stared at each other for a moment. That physical contact they had a while ago took a lot of them today, and they weren't in the mood to fight and compete with each other for Pikachu. They also needed to rest up to be at their top shape for tomorrow's competition and also not to disappoint their trainers.

Without saying a word, they seemed to understand what each of them was trying to say. They nodded slowly and rested their heads back on the bed.

Paul placed Buizel at the feet of his bed as she inspected the mattress, pressed and sniffed it, followed by a few scratches which he quickly interrupted her and fixed her to a curled up position. Buizel felt comfortable and gave him a hearty smile and slowly she dozed off.

Paul pets her head slowly then stroked her body as she gave cute sounds. He felt lighter doing this, in fact he liked doing this before, now why did he suddenly change? He couldn't even remember. As drowsiness kicked in, he covered Buizel with his blanket, but before going to bed, he shut the lights off, leaving everyone else surprised but one by one, they all said good night before dozing off.

ZzzZzzZzzZzzZzz

Suddenly a man woke up from its slumber. He stared down and noticed that he was lying on the ground. He looked around as it found himself in the middle of a grass field, beautiful flowers colorfully arranged, making this a tranquil and peaceful place as the pleasant scent can soothe your mind.

He rose up to a sitting position and stared at his body, his outfit was different than that usual black, purple jacket he wears everyday. This jacket he was now wearing was in cream in color and quite simple actually without any designs.

He smirked lightly, he liked the jacket and was pretty much more comfortable than his usual jacket gives him.

He stood up to his feet, patted his bottom with his hands to remove some of the dirt and grass that may have stuck on his pants. He looked around to see if there's anyone around, but no luck. He seemed to be the only one in here.

"Hihihi…" A faint female voice echoed that quickly caught his attention as he immediately looked towards the direction where the voice was coming from.

He could see blue hair that swayed with the winds before hiding from his view. Immediately, he ran after it, hoping to get some answers to where he was.

He approached the tree where he last saw it, but there wasn't anything unusual around, he circled around the tree, but nothing. He scratched the back of his head, that thing shouldn't just disappear like that.

Suddenly, he could hear splash sounds quite near from his location as he slowly went towards the source. Moments later, he could see a lake and something in the water that looked like to be causing those sounds.

"B-buizel?" He said as the water pokemon happily jumped in and out of the water until she noticed him staring at her as she quickly went to shore and went towards him.

Before he could say anything, Buizel grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her as she went towards the tall grass.

He couldn't see anything through the tall grass that blocked his entire view, along with the vines and trees blocking the sunlight which only made it harder to pass through with only the hand contact left to know where Buizel is.

'Where is she taking me?' He thought to himself as he continued to follow Buizel. But suddenly, a branch that he failed to see hit him right in the head which made him lose his grip with Buizel. He quickly covered his forehead where the branch had hit him as he looked around to see if he could still find that pokemon.

But to no avail, it was impossible to see anything but tall grass. Just great, he lost Buizel and now he doesn't know where he is or where the exit of this jungle. Sighing, he slowly moved through the thick grass, he doesn't know where he'll end up to, but staying in one place won't help either.

He pushed the grass aside to help him move, but suddenly, something grabbed his hand and pulled him quickly. At first, he thought that it was Buizel again, but he felt something different in his hand. It wasn't a paw but a human hand.

It felt warm and smooth, he couldn't do anything but to follow it instead, hoping he could at least get out of here. After a few minutes, he could see light as they were now nearing the exit, the tall grass were getting thinner as he could now see the person who was holding his hand.

It had long blue hair, strange, it looked very similar to the one he saw before. And finally, there were out of the jungle. He felt relieved at first, but he was more interested to who had saved him. He stared at the blue-haired person as it turned around to look at him.

"D-Dawn?" He said, it was the blue-haired coordinator's face all right, those sapphire eyes, but something was a little different about her, she was wearing a blue dress, though it had similarities with her pink contest dress, this was much more suiting for her and matches with her hair color.

He blushed, Dawn was never been this beautiful up close to him as she stared at his eyes deeply coupled with a smile which was more cute.

"Paul, thank you for the dress, it's the best gift I've ever had…" Dawn said and looked down as blushes could also be seen from her young and beautiful face.

"But I didn't-" Paul felt confused, he didn't give her any gift but before he could say anything more, Dawn interrupted him by putting a finger on his mouth. Then Dawn made the move, she moved closer and rested her head against his chest and hugged him tightly, leaving him more confused and blushing deeply.

"So do you like the jacket I gave you?" Dawn asked as she moved one hand from his back and made circles on his chest with her finger.

"I…err…" Paul was completely loss at words at the moment, everything felt so weird but real to him. Then they stared at each other's faces, her beauty was too much for him.

"Do you love me Paul?" Dawn struck the question, making him sweat a lot, his heart pound faster, his body couldn't even move. She giggled at his reaction then moved closer to his face.

Paul could see her closing in, her hand reaching for the back of his head and neck and pulled him closer and puckered her lips, but before they made contact…

XxxXxxXxxXxx

"Good morning to each and everyone of you. Today is the annual Coralgreen Pokemon Battle Tournament. I would like to say that this will be a very spectacular event folks. I'm your host Cid." The fat guy wearing a blue tuxedo announced with his microphone.

The gang were inside the town's stadium where the participants' were lined up beside their chosen pokemon facing the stand where Cid was standing, and above them a giant monitor showing the 'Annual Coralgreen Pokemon Battle Tournament' and below were pictures of every contestant.

"Now I will explain the rules: It is quite simple really and we will be following the single elimination, our contestants will be randomly placed with their opponents as they fight against each other and only one will remain standing and take home this marvelous prize." Cid said and revealed a ticket from his suit.

"The winner will receive a free trip to the Sevii Islands for up to two weeks and he or she can bring up to six people, family or friends. And as far as we all know, the Sevii Islands are world-known for the best beach resorts and vacation sites." Cid said as the monitor zoomed in on the prize ticket he was holding as everyone could get a closer view of the details written on it.

"I'm so gonna win that ticket!" May said as she clenched her fists tightly, filling her mind with those wild imaginations of her relaxing at the beach, wearing those swimsuits she always adored and her favorite foods served right beside her.

"Don't get your hopes up May, each of us are going to fight against each other and all of us aren't holding back." Mary reminded her.

"I know, but still, I'm so excited!" May squealed in delight, ignoring her words of caution as her mind was still caught up with her fantasies.

"Our referee for this event as everyone all knows, its-" Cid announced and pointed his arm towards a person entering the stand.

"NURSE JOY!!!" The audience shouted in joy as the nurse approached the stand and took her seat while giving waves to the crowd.

"Wow, she sure is famous around here." Ash said to himself as the audience continued to yell and whistle at her.

"Of course she is, that elegance, that beauty, and that knowledge for treating pokemon. Nurse Joy, she's the perfect woman for my heaARRRRTTTT!!!" Brock was doing another one of his usual, uncontrolled sayings until a Poison Jab struck him to the abdomen as he fell down to his back.

"Each match will be decided either a knock-out or a TKO. If a pokemon is badly hurt, Nurse Joy will immediately stop the match before further injuries may happen."

"And now our computer will randomly select the contestants battling for these morning matches." Cid said and pointed at the giant screen as the pictures of each contestants were switched upside-down, hiding their faces as they scrambled together.

Then, each concealed picture were stacked together in the middle and equally distributed by pairs. Then, the cards were turned over again, as the contestants who were going to battle each other are now revealed.

The first pair on the upper-left was Ash's picture along with his name below, and his pair was a red-haired man named Chase. As for the rest: May vs Pearl, Dawn vs Ivy, Brock vs Celine, Paul vs Thomas, Mary vs Chuck, and Luke vs Anthony.

"Whew, I thought one of us are going to fight each other…" Dawn felt relieved as she continued to stare at the screen.

"Will Ash and Chase come to the stage for match 1." Cid called out to them.

"Wow, Ash, you're up first. Beat the crap out of that guy." May cheered for Ash as nearby participants stared at them oddly, leaving the trainer embarrassed a bit.

"Uhh, yeah. I'll do my best! You can count on it!" Ash said and gave her a thumbs up.

"Beat the crap out of me? You better watch your tongue, little Missy…" A voice called out to May as she was immediately startled and jumped before looking back at the person. He had red hair and his face looked very much the same with Ash's opponent.

"Blissey and I haven't lost in a singles battle for a very long time, I doubt that Pikachu of his would put up much of a fight." He said with an arrogant smirk on his face before proceeding to the stage. His Blissey right beside him.

"The nerve of that guy startling me like that and saying that Pikachu won't put much of a fight, he's just like Drew!" May said, clearly annoyed by Chase's statement.

"Don't worry May, I'll knock some sense out of that guy, ain't that right, Pikachu?" Ash said to his partner as Pikachu clenched his fist tightly with his look filled with determination to beat Chase's pokemon.

"Good luck Ash, we're all rooting for you." May cheered for Ash as he nodded and went towards the stage to meet with his opponent.

"You must be Ash, I've heard news about you being a great trainer and all, however, things will change differently this time." Chase said, making Ash more annoyed at him.

"You talk too much Chase, why don't you show it then?" Ash replied.

"Thought you'll never ask… Blissey, why don't we show everyone what you're made off." He said as Blissey moved forward and made a fighting pose as Pikachu jumped from Ash's shoulder and glared at his opponent intently as sparks surged from his cheeks.

"Are the trainers ready?" Nurse Joy, who was at the referee stand, asked to the two trainers while raising a red flag and a green flag from her hands. The two trainers nodded and it was cue to start the match.

"Then let the match begin!" Nurse Joy ended and swung the flags down.

"Pikachu, let's make this a fast match, now use Quick Attack!" Ash said as Pikachu quickly darted towards his opponent who wasn't even moving an inch.

"Dodge and use Mega Punch!" Chase said cockily as Blissey sidestepped with ease as the mouse pokemon missed his mark while Blissey's hand glowed brightly and hit Pikachu in the stomach and sent him flying back to his trainer's side.

"W-whoa… how could a Blissey dodge so fast?" Ash asked himself in astonishment as Pikachu skidded back to his trainer's side, clenching his teeth in pain but his eyes became more determined to beat that cocky trainer known as Chase.

"Blissey has a lot of defense or should I say, the best defense than the other pokemon." Brock said as the three girls stared at him in astonishment.

"But even though they have the best defense, their offensive strength is subpar compared to Pikachu's right?" Mary asked.

"Well, true, but a good trainer can compensate for that with a good type of strategy, in Chase's case, he worked on her speed." Brock nodded and replied.

"We'll see who'll outlast each other, Pikachu's offense or Blissey's defense." Luke said with a smirk, crossed his arms and looked attentively at the first match of the tournament.

_to be continued…_

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**The Coralgreen Tournament has began as Ash starts the first match with a cocky trainer known as Chase and his Blissey with an unusual speed. Will he prevail? Who will outlast each other?**

**Stay tuned…**


	12. Chapter 12: Rivalry

**This chapter and the following would be: battles, battles, some shipping moments, then battles, battles, and battles. I tried my best to keep each battle, short or long, to be unique from each other but entertaining as well, if my imagination served me well. It was also hard to put in shipping moments when these parts would focus more on battles. Oh well, enjoy, there's more where that came from :D**

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**CHAPTER 12**

**Battles**

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"Pikachu, grab hold of that Mega Punch!" Ash shouted as Pikachu complied and received the Mega Punch on the body but still he was able to grab hold of Blissey's hand as a sudden jolt of electricity surged throughout Blissey's body.

"What? What just happened?" Chase was stunned on what just happened.

"That's Pikachu's Static, it paralyzes anyone who tries to touch an electric-type pokemon like Pikachu." Ash said with a smirk as Chase's smile turned upside down.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Pikachu leapt from Blissey's hand as his thunderbolt-shaped tail glowed up brightly and hit Blissey in the cheeks as the force made it fall to the ground.

"Now use Thunderbolt!" Ash ordered a second attack, obviously not letting him use that Softboiled attack again as Pikachu leapt to the air and released another Thunderbolt, but this time, more powerful than before, making Blissey scream in pain.

"Dammit, Blissey, use Softboiled now!" Chase shouted to his pokemon in vain as fear of losing the battle as well as the tournament may be a realization for him.

But to no avail, when Blissey was about to do her Softboiled, wild sparks coursed throughout its body, preventing it from even moving its hands, making it a window of opportunity for Ash and Pikachu.

"Time to end this Pikachu, Volt Tackle!" Ash shouted for one last attack, as Pikachu dashed forward, as his body became enveloped with electricity leaving only a shallow trace of his body.

"Softboiled now!" Chase shouted out of desperation, but he was answered only as Pikachu hit Blissey and pushed it back in front of his trainer, motionless with a spiral shaped eyes, meaning it has fainted and unable to battle.

"Blissey is unable to battle, Ash and Pikachu wins!" The referee said and raised a flag towards Ash, signaling the end of the first battle of the Coralgreen Tournament.

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"Will May and Pearl please proceed to the stage." The announcer said, calling out to the two trainers for the second match.

"Well, wish me luck guys!" May stood from her seat and proceeded down the stairs while waving to her friends as they waved back as well.

"Great battle back there Ash." May congratulated Ash while raising a hand in the air as the boy quickly understood what she meant and gave a big high-five.

"I know you'll win this one May." Ash said with a smile, a smile that suddenly stunned May, followed with a light blush on her cheeks.

Then she remembered yesterday's incident with Team Rocket, falling down and being caught by her best friends by his arms, then there she was touched by a male for the very first time, and unknowingly moaned which was followed by a rough landing afterwards. Odd though, now why did she suddenly remember that?

"Uhh, earth to May…" Ash called out to her while snapping his fingers in front of her face, bringing her back to reality.

"Wh-what?" May was startled to see him suddenly near to her face, looking concerned without even noticing that their faces were very close.

"You suddenly spaced out, and you have a match, remember?" Ash said with a stern look.

"Oh yeah, gotta go! Gotta go!" May quickly darted towards the stage, faking a laugh to hide her blushes.

'That was embarrassing…' She thought to herself as she went to her side of the field, her opponent with long pink hair, Pearl, waiting for her to finally come.

"Finished talking to your boyfriend, I thought you two lovebirds will never finish." Suddenly her opponent struck a conversation before the match started.

"Wha-what? He's not my boyfriend!" May was just stunned upon hearing that word, but quickly denied Pearl's statement.

"Well…not…yet…" Suddenly those words uttered from her mouth unconsciously. Then blushing afterwards after realizing that she just said.

"Why are you blushing my dear? Perhaps, you two ARE going out together?" Pearl smirked and continued teasing her.

"Oh shut up, let's just battle, okay?" May suddenly shouted, silencing the audience as well as her opponent, and threw out a pokeball to the air, revealing a small fox-like pokemon.

"Glae!" Her ice-type pokemon roared and ready to battle.

"Glaceon huh? Well this will be a one-sided battle, ain't that right… Machoke!" Pearl smirked with confidence as she threw her pokeball to the air, revealing a big, bulky humanoid pokemon.

"Ma-choke!" The fighting-type pokemon roared and flexed its muscles before doing a battle stance. May and her Glaceon gritted their teeth, they know fighting-types have the advantage against ice-types like Glaceon, this will be a difficult battle.

"Are the two trainers ready?" The referee asked the two who nodded in response.

"Then let the match begin!"

"Glaceon, use Shadow Ball!" May was the first to call an attack, Glaceon opened its mouth and charged up a dark ball of energy and shot it towards its opponent.

"Brick Break!" Pearl said as Machoke raised its hand upward as it glowed brightly, and with a vertical strike, Machoke literally cut the Shadow Ball in half as it disappeared immediately.

"Damn, then let's use Ice Shards!" May clenched her teeth and then called out an attack, as Glaceon opened her mouth and released a barrage of ice shards towards Machoke.

"Mach Punch Machoke!" Pearl retaliated as Machoke formed a fist as it glowed brightly, and suddenly, it was thrusting its fist back and forth at a very high rate, shattering every Ice Shard it came into contact.

"Now follow it up with Cross Chop!" Pearl said as Machoke finished clearing the barrage and crossed its hands as both hands glowed brightly and quickly darted towards Glaceon.

"Use Ice Shards on the field Glaceon!" May quickly thought of an idea as Glaceon leapt to the air and shot a barrage on the field, as each shard shattered and covered the affected ground with ice, eventually her side of the field became an ice field.

Machoke was about to jump until its right foot slipped upon stepping onto slippery ice, causing it lose its balance as well as cancelling its attack.

"Now use Secret Power!" Seeing an opportunity, May shouted to her partner as Glaceon darted from her position and dived towards Machoke as her body began to glow brightly pink and hit Machoke in the chest.

"Stay strong Machoke! And use Brick Break!" Pearl called out to her pokemon as Machoke began to endure the pain and quickly retaliated with a horizontal Brick Break, connecting it with her body and sending her flying.

"Come on Glaceon, you can do it! Shadow Ball!" May cheered on and called out an attack, as Glaceon managed to shot a Shadow Ball towards Machoke.

"Cross Chop!" Pearl countered as Machoke crossed its glowing hands and intercepted the Shadow Ball attack, and with one powerful sweep, it managed to reflect the Shadow Ball back to Glaceon.

"Glae!" The ice-type cried in pain as it landed on the ground, panting heavily and struggling to stand up. No way can they lose this battle, the Sevii Island beaches May has been dreaming in this whole trip, she was not about to give this all up.

"I believe in you Glaceon, we can still win this!" May called out to Glaceon, motivating her to continue on, for her, for…

"PIKA! PIKA!" A voice shouted to her, suddenly her ears twitched upon hearing that very familiar voice. Yes, she wasn't just doing it for her, but also to her yellow-mouse crush, Pikachu.

Glaceon looked at the stands where Pikachu was, waving out to her and still shouting words of encouragement. That alone was more than enough. She slowly stood up to her feet and gave a determined look on her face.

"Thank you Glaceon, now let's win this!" May cheered for joy and became more confident and determined as ever to win this battle.

"Still standing huh? Machoke get in there and finish this once and for all!" Pearl shouted to Machoke as the fighting-type darted towards its opponent.

"Shadow Ball!" May suddenly said which shocked the whole audience. Machoke deflected that attack back at her, now why is she using it again?

"That move again? Fine, Cross Chop Machoke and follow it up with Thunderpunch!" Pearl shouted with full of confidence in this battle. The fighting-type crossed again its arms and again, reflected the Shadow Ball back, but this time, it dashed forward with its right hand charging up electricity.

"Now use Mirror Coat!" May said as Glaceon's body glowed brightly like silver, gray and white and intercepted her own Shadow Ball, but this time, she returned the Shadow Ball with twice the power.

That took Machoke by surprise as the empowered Shadow Ball attack hit it straight to the face, forcing it to wince in pain, kneel down and touch its smoking face.

"Now use Secret Power Glaceon!" She followed it up with another attack as Glaceon's body glowed pink and charged towards a stunned Machoke and hit its stomach at full force, causing it to be pushed back to its butt, and was now holding it in unbearable pain.

"That was pretty good, but we're not about to give up yet, Machoke get up now!" Pearl shouted to her fighting-type, urging it to continue on as it slowly stood up to its feet and did a boxing stance.

"Glaceon, Ice Shards!" The brunette coordinator ordered as Glaceon opened her mouth and unleashed a barrage of sharp ice shards towards its brute, muscle-bound pokemon, a Machoke which is a big disadvantage for her ice-type pokemon.

"Machoke, use Mach Punch to destroy those Ice Shards!" Her opponent, Pearl and her pokemon retaliated as Machoke's fists glowed and at the blink of an eye, began striking every nearby ice shards coming at them.

"Keep it up Glaceon!" May cheered for Glaceon as the ice-type continued with her barrage of ice shards as Machoke continuously kept hammering away with Bullet Punch at the incoming shards.

Eventually some shards were able to penetrate its defense, piercing through its skin, creating cuts and bruises while other affected parts slowly became frozen solid.

"Quick, use Shadow Ball Glaceon!" May said as Glaceon stopped the barrage and quickly opened her mouth as a dark ball of energy grew into a huge sphere and released it towards the unsuspecting Machoke.

"Machoke, watch out!" Pearl tried to warn her fighting-type pokemon but it was too late, the Shadow Ball was too fast before Machoke could even notice it as the attack hit it straight to the face and it knelt down and covered its face in pain as white smoke were emitting from its face.

"Iron Tail!" May clenched her fist and thrusted it forward as Glaceon leapt to the air and her tail glowed brightly.

When she was directly above Machoke, she dived down and somersaulted twice before hitting its head, slamming it to the ground with the rest of its body as a huge cloud of white smoke brewed.

"Ah, Machoke… NO!" Pearl cried out in vain as the smoke slowly subsided, revealing her fighting-type pokemon lying on the ground with spiral-shaped eyes, fainted and unable to battle.

"Machoke is unable to battle, May and her Glaceon wins!" The referee announced the end of the match and raised her flag to the victor, May and her Glaceon as the two hugged each other and jumped with joy.

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"That was a great battle May, I know you can do it!" Ash and the others congratulated May for her amazing win.

Her Glaceon, on the other hand, jumped towards Pikachu and hugged him tightly while Pikachu was clueless as ever but hugged her back.

"Will Brock and Celine please go to the stage?" The announcer said, cueing the spiky-haired trainer that it was now his turn to fight.

"Wish me luck guys." Brock waved to everyone before proceeding down the stands to the stage.

"Good luck Brock!" The group cheered on as Brock returned a thumbs-up.

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"Croagunk, Poison Sting!" Brock shouted out as his poison/fighting-type pokemon opened its mouth and shot out a barrage of glowing, purple needles towards its opponent, a flying-type as well as a steel-type pokemon, a Skarmory.

"You do know that steel-type are immune to any kind of poison attacks, now Skarmory, dive down and end this with Steel Wing!" His opponent, Celine, feeling very, very confident in this matchup. Skarmory dove right into the Poison Sting with its razor-sharp wings glowing brightly, and easily swept through every Poison Sting and dove right ahead to Croagunk.

"Now wait for it…" Brock whispered to his pokemon as it stood its ground, its creepy-looking eyes staring at its opponent intently.

"Now hit it!" Celine shouted as Skarmory slammed its right wing towards Croagunk.

"Dodge, and use Poison Jab!" Brock quickly shouted as Croagunk sidestepped, evading the Steel Wing attack by mere inches and readied its claw as it glowed purple.

This was the perfect opportunity to strike as Croagunk thrusted his Poison Jab attack towards its favorite body part… the gut.

Skarmory made an expression very similar to Brock's everytime he gets hit by one. Although there wouldn't be any poison effect, the power of a fighting-type was more than enough to penetrate that steel body of its opponent.

"Now jump and use Brick Break!" Brock ordered as Croagunk jumped above and raised its hand up high as it glowed brightly like the sun radiating the entire stadium and dove down and slammed a Brick Break attack to Skarmory's head which sent powerful shocks throughout every inch of its body as it fell to the ground, motionless and that usual spiral-shaped eyes, signaling it has fainted.

"Skarmory is unable to battle, Brock and Croagunk are the winners!" The referee announced and raised his flag towards Brock who knelt down and praised Croagunk by patting its head as it did its favorite squatting position, content.

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"Drapion, use Pin Missile!" Ivy said to her scorpion-like pokemon as it directed the spikes above its shoulders towards its rabbit pokemon opponent as it glowed brightly and unleashed a barrage of pin missiles.

"Buneary, use Ice Beam and then Bounce!" The blue-haired trainer ordered as her normal-type pokemon opened her mouth and charged up a bright-blue globe and released it in the form of three crooked beams and intercepted the Pin Missile.

Every hit Pin Missile immediately stopped and turned into icicles and Buneary used them to bounce towards her opponent.

"Use X-Scissor!" Ivy instructed as Drapion's claws glowed brightly and raised it overhead, charging up a very powerful attack.

"Use Ice Beam on its claws!" Dawn said as Buneary released another Ice Beam attack to her opponent's claws, when it claws were about to intercept each other, the Ice Beam attack struck both claws, gluing them together and stopped X-Scissor.

"What the hell?" Ivy was just stunned, as the two were now in a bind.

"Now finish it up with Dizzy Punch!" Dawn shouted as Buneary's cotton-like fur on the end of both ears glowed colorfully, and unleashed a powerful combination of Dizzy Punches towards Drapion's face.

Right hook, left hook, multiple jabs, an uppercut to the jaw, and then a dual hammer on the head maybe was more than enough to slam Drapion's face to the ground along with the rest of its body, knocking it out, and ensuring victory for the two.

"Drapion is unable to battle, Dawn and Buneary wins!" The referee announced and his flag to the victor, Dawn and her Buneary as the pokemon leapt towards its trainer's arms in joy and happiness.

_Meanwhile… in the stands…_

"Dawn sure is an interesting trainer, isn't she Paul?" Luke struck a conversation with the lavender-haired trainer.

"Huh?" Paul looked surprised and stared at the tall silver-haired man confused.

"The way she used Ice Beam to lock Drapion's claws together, only a few people knows its weakness…" Luke said.

"Y-yeah…" Paul replied with a staggering tone, though he doesn't like to talk about Dawn for a while and hated to admit but, she was pretty good, even he didn't realize Drapion even has a weakness until Luke said it and Dawn discovered it.

"Hmm? Why are you blushing?" Luke stared at his reddish face as he quickly shrugged it off, but was unable to answer right away.

"Will the participants Paul and Thomas come to the stage." A voice announced from the speakers as the portraits of the two were now shown on the big screen, signaling it was now Paul's turn to battle.

"I have to go now." Paul said flatly and stood up from his seat and proceeded towards the stage.

"Win this for Dawn okay?" Luke followed up as Paul suddenly lost his balance upon hearing that and stumbled down the stairs, his hands reached out to anything he can hold before anything may happen to him before the match.

"Whoops…"

Finally, Paul was able to regain his footing after holding on to something or someone since what he was feeling was someone else's shoulders.

He raised his head to look at that person's face that saved him from impending pain and embarrassment, but much to his realization and shock, it was that blue-haired coordinator with sapphire eyes that was in his dream.

"P-paul? Are you okay?" Dawn asked the lavender-haired trainer slowly, but another realization met the two as their faces were quite close to each other, or should I say, an inch or two before they would meet.

As blushes formed on both of their cheeks, Paul quickly moved back from Dawn, releasing his hands from her bare shoulders and proceeded down to the stage, clearly blushing deeply.

'Dammit, why am I thinking more about her lately?' Paul cursed himself, gritted his teeth in annoyance and climbed up to the stage.

'Paul…' Dawn stared at the lavender-haired trainer as he went to his side of the battle field as she clenched her fist toward her chest, feeling strange towards the trainer, her heart pounding faster than before.

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"Are the two trainers ready? Let the match begin!" The referee asked the two who nodded in response, showing the two are ready as the referee announced the start of the match.

"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" Paul threw his pokeball to the air and revealed his electric-type pokemon who roared ferociously as sparks coursed outside its body.

"Empoleon, come on out!" His opponent, Thomas, revealed his pokemon which is a large penguin pokemon, which is a water and steel-type.

"Thunderbolt, go!" Paul wasted no time and immediately called out an attack as Electabuzz charged up electricity towards its antenna and unleashed it towards Empoleon.

"Deflect it with Steel Wing!" Thomas said as Empoleon's wings glowed brightly and crossed them together to intercept the Thunderbolt attack.

Empoleon met the Thunderbolt attack with its Steel Wing, but successfully defeats the Thunderbolt attack and waved its arms as the electricity immediately disappeared.

But the two were surprised to see their opponent was immediately in front of them.

"Brick Break, go!" Paul ordered as Electabuzz raised its arm up with palms open with electricity coursing throughout its arm, ready to swing it towards Empoleon, karate-chop style.

"Flash Cannon!" Thomas quickly retaliated as Empoleon opened its mouth as a bright silvery-like color was emitting from it and released it in the form of a beam and intercepted the Brick Break attack.

Both pokemons struggled in their attacks, trying to overpower each other's attacks. But eventually, the type advantage wins as Electabuzz was able to defeat Flash Cannon and slamming a Brick Break attack against Empoleon's beak.

"Empol!" The emperor pokemon cried in pain as it covered its aching beak with its wings, trying to endure the pain.

"Now Thunderpunch!" Paul wasted no time as Electabuzz charged up a fist with electricity and struck Empoleon by the chest, pushing it backwards with sheer power while electrocuting its whole body in the process.

"Empoleon is unable to battle, Paul and Electabuzz wins!" The referee announced upon checking the fainted Empoleon lying on the ground, motionless, and beat.

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"Wow, Paul is as strong as ever…" The blue-haired coordinator said to herself, staring at that lavender-haired trainer who looked like his usual emotionless state, but deep inside of him, there was a lot going on.

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"Gardevoir, now Focus Blast!" Mary said telepathically. Her opponent, Chuck and his Mightyena, a dark-type and are pretty much banes against psychic-types like her, kept looking around its surroundings trying to sense where its opponent was hiding, apparently Gardevoir was using Teleport.

Then suddenly, right on top of the dark-type, appeared the psychic-type, her green hands charging up a bright ball of energy and then releasing it, hitting Mightyena by its back, creating a powerful explosion as the Focus Blast pushed it underneath the field.

As the smoke subsided, all the audience could see was the psychic-type floating above at the hole that was created, and beneath it was an unconscious Mightyena, unable to battle.

"Mightyena is unable to battle, Mary and Gardevoir are the victors!" The referee said upon going for a closer inspection at the hole, and raising the flag towards the two.

"We did it Gardevoir!" Mary cheered with joy and greeted her pokemon with a giant hug.

'Good thing I finally mastered Focus Blast before the tournament began.' Gardevoir happily said telepathically, also rejoicing the victory.

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"Magnezone, Thunder now!" A trainer named Anthony called out an attack, as its steel and electric type pokemon, floating above Luke and Gallade raised its magnets and directed it towards its opponent as a blue electricity surged from its body and towards Gallade.

"Gallade, absorb that Thunder!" Luke said as Gallade stood his ground and crossed his bladelike arms, and received the Thunder attack as it surged throughout its body.

"Ha! Take that! No pokemon can take my Magnezone's Thunder attack head-on." His opponent said with full of confidence.

"Don't celebrate just yet…" Luke said with a chuckle, as Anthony raised an eyebrow, clueless on why isn't he even worried at all about his pokemon's state. He glared at Gallade, and surprised as his eyes were wide open, that Gallade wasn't even flinching or even hurt at all.

"Psycho Cut." Luke closed his eyes and smirked as Gallade's arms glowed brightly pink, and with one swing, the blue electricity that was covering his body dispersed in an instant, while the blue electricity were now present in his bladelike arms, dancing wildly along with the pink glow.

"Wha-what just happened?!" Anthony was just stunned along with his Magnezone. Gallade leapt to the air and with two swings from both arms, he did a Psycho Cut in the form of dual large waves, pink and covered with blue electricity, and almost immediately, it hit Magnezone directly and pushed it back against a wall as a small earthquake rocked the audience near the affected wall while smoke clouds appeared.

Slowly, the smoke cloud subsided, as the whole audience saw big cracks on the wall, along with a fainted Magnezone in it.

"Magnezone is unable to battle, Luke and Gallade wins!" The referee announced and raised his flag towards the two.

Luke smirked and walked out of the stage while Gallade was beside of him as they walked up to the stands where he and the gang were sitting.

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"Congratulations to the victors at the preliminary round. Now we will now randomly select tomorrow's order of pairs battling each other." The announcer said as he looked at the big screen where the participants' portraits were hidden and shuffled.

Then the shuffling finished, as tomorrows pairs were now selected. Everyone was silent, anxious, and excited as they saw the portraits were shown one by one.

May vs Dawn

Ash vs Paul

Brock vs Elena

Luke vs Mary

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_Later that evening, back in the guest room…_

"I can't believe I'm going against you Dawn." May said in a somehow sad tone. She was sitting on her bed along with her Glaceon and patting her head. But her pokemon on the other hand, was thinking of something else and glaring intently at a certain someone and didn't even feel her master's touch.

"C'mon May, don't be like that. We're rivals aren't we? This will be the same back at the Wallace Cup, remember?" Dawn replied in a very cheerful tone, with her Buneary on her lap, also focusing on her rival.

"Guess you're right, let's show the audience a match to remember then!" May got really fired up after a good encouragement from her rival and friend Dawn.

Tomorrow will be their match, Glaceon vs Buneary, rivals that has been at it for the past days since May arrived in Sinnoh. All they could think of was rip off each other's necks, and tomorrow, they can now do it to each other without anything interrupting them.

"You guys are really lucky to compete with each other comfortably, but what about me? I'm going against Luke and my Gardevoir wasn't even expecting this would happen to us." Mary said, her Gardevoir sat beside her on her bed, joining with the conversation.

"Well a Gallade vs a Gardevoir, that will be a very interesting matchup. But why are you worrying about that?" Brock asked.

"… I don't know…" Mary replied in an uneasy tone, she can't even explain to them and fell silent afterwards.

"And I'm going against Paul…" Ash said in a bit unhappy tone.

"And why are you so glum about? There's your chance to finally get even with him right?" Brock replied.

"Well, true-"Ash said but was interrupted when his rival came out from the bathroom with a towel resting on his shoulders.

The two shared glares to each other, until…

"What are you looking at?" Paul asked in his usual grumpy tone.

That statement fired Ash up, that annoying and arrogant voice fueled up his mind to defeat that lavender-haired trainer officially.

"We'll beat you Paul, ain't that right Pikachu?"

"Pika!" His pokemon replied with determination.

_**To be continued…**_

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**Now things are looking very interesting for the whole group, as rivals will face off against each other tomorrow.**

**Glaceon vs Buneary: Two rivals that has been competing against each other since the past days, will this match finally settle the score? **

**Pikachu vs Electabuzz: The battle of electric-types as well as the fierce rivalry between Ash and Paul, will Ash finally score an official win against him, or will Paul gain the upper hand again?**

**How about Gallade vs Gardevoir? The battle of the sexes? Who knows?**

**Stay tuned… and leave a comment while you're at it.**


	13. Chapter 13: Anger

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**CHAPTER 13**

**Anger**

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We left our heroes currently competing at the Coralgreen Tournament and all of them passed the first round with flying colors. But now, each of them now has to face off against each other to be able to pass through the second round. May and Glaceon vs Dawn and Buneary, the two pokemon love rivals that have been competing against each other since the day they've met to try to win the heart of our favorite, but dense and clueless pokemon, Pikachu. But our favorite electric-type along with his trainer has to fight against their dreaded rival and enemy, Paul and his Electabuzz. And don't forget the fight between Gallade and Gardevoir, a match between the sexes that you don't see everyday. Excitement and emotion will ensue in this second day of the tournament all right.

"Welcome back ladies and gentleman to the second day of the annual Coralgreen Tournament, we've seen spectacular performance from our competitors and their pokemon yesterday and we all know that today will be more exciting and intense than ever." Cid, the blue-tuxedo wearing emcee proudly said with his microphone as the crowd roared and cheered.

"Without further a due, let's start the first match between May and Dawn!" Cid pointed an open palm towards the huge screen, showing the brunette and the blue-haired coordinator's portraits in the screen, along with their pokemon beside them.

_Meanwhile… inside the waiting room for trainers…_

The whole group was sitting together at the bench and were staring at the big LCD monitor on the wall.

"Well, that's our cue." Dawn said and stood up.

"This is it Dawn, it's between you and me now. Let's make this a match to remember, alright?" May said and clenched a fist and smirked at her, she was really getting excited in getting a rematch with her best friend.

"Sure, or else, it wouldn't be even a match right?" Dawn replied with a smirk and raised her hand towards May who shook it. A sign of true friendly and sportsmanship between fierce rivals.

"Good luck you two, we'll be rooting for both of you!" Ash cheered as the girls waved to them and went towards the battle stage.

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"This is a one-on-one battle between May and Dawn. No time limit, and the match will be over when either one of them cannot continue to battle." The referee announced as the two trainers stood at their side of the field.

"Glaceon, take the stage!"

"Buneary, spotlight!"

They both threw their pokeballs to the field, revealing a fluffy bunny pokemon and a fox-like pokemon who are about to duke it out with each other within a minute.

The two were glaring at each other intently and were smirking. Glaceon wanted to rip her rival apart, and today was her chance to do it and show it to everyone else that she's the strongest while Buneary was thinking of the same thing as well.

"Are the trainers ready? Let the battle begin!" The referee announced the start of the battle as he swing the flag downwards after inspecting the trainers' nods of approval for him to begin.

"Glaceon, let's start off with Shadow Ball!" Her ice-type opened her mouth and let out a dark ball of energy and aimed it straight towards her opponent at a fast rate.

"Buneary, use Bounce!" Dawn ordered as the rabbit pokemon jumped towards the air and easily dodged the Shadow Ball attack and was directly above Glaceon.

"Ice Shards!" May said as Glaceon let loose a barrage of ice cold shards towards Buneary.

"Use Dizzy Punch with a spin!" Dawn said as Buneary quickly got the idea. Her two ears connected with each other as the fur on each ear formed into like a big round mace glowing like a rainbow and spin it round and round as she dove right into Ice Shards.

Buneary made quick work at the Ice Shards attack as anything Dizzy Punch touched broke into tiny pieces of harmless ice which quickly dissolved into the air.

"Glaceon, Shadow Ball!" Glaceon shot another dark ball of energy towards Buneary, who was getting closer and closer to her target.

"Return it Buneary!" Dawn shouted as Buneary positioned her ears and when Shadow Ball got close enough, she struck it in a vertical fashion and let out a powerful impact and sent it right back at an unsuspecting Glaceon.

"Ahh…Glaceon!" May was surprised as Glaceon was knockbacked from the blast but managed to maintain her balance.

"Close in and use Dizzy Punch Buneary!" When Buneary landed, she quickly darted towards Glaceon with her ears now separated and were glowing brightly like a rainbow again, ready to bring pain towards her rival.

"Dodge it!"

Buneary made a right hook and left hook but Glaceon managed to evade, then Buneary joined her ears together again as it formed into one big fluff; she wanted to make this one huge Dizzy Punch connect and made a horizontal sweep.

"Glaceon, duck!" May was able to order a command as Glaceon lied down flat on her belly as Dizzy Punch hit nothing but air.

"Now, Secret Power!" Glaceon smirked as her body glowed pink and charged towards Buneary and gave a powerful headbutt straight to her face.

"Buneary!" Dawn called out as Buneary was left flying back towards her trainer's side, still disoriented by the impact of the attack.

"Iron Tail Glaceon!" May waved her finger towards her opponent as Glaceon darted from her place, her diamond-shaped tail glowing brightly, charging a powerful Iron Tail attack.

"Quick, use Bounce!" Dawn called out to Buneary as she regained her focus and when she was about to hit the ground and by the Iron Tail, she used her ears as leverage and leapt towards the air, barely dodging Glaceon's powerful attack.

"Ice Beam Glaceon!" May shouted as Glaceon quickly charged up an Ice Beam attack and fired it at Bunenary's direction with deadly precision.

"BUN!" The rabbit pokemon shrieked as Ice Beam connected with one of her ears, freezing it solid, causing her to fall on the ground rather painfully while Glaceon, on the other hand, smirked.

"Buneary! Come on, you have to get up!" Dawn called out to her pokemon who was struggling to stand up while her frozen ear was uncontrollably shaking and in pain.

"Let's finish this Glaceon! Iron Tail!" May ordered a final attack to finish this match. Glaceon charged up her tail and dashed towards Buneary.

It felt like it was the end for Dawn and her Buneary as Glaceon was closing in and ready to deliver the final blow to end this match. Glaceon leapt up and made a somersault Iron Tail.

"Quick Buneary, Dizzy Punch!" In the midst of the suspense, Dawn was able to call out an attack as Buneary quickly opened her eyes and charged up her unaffected ear and intercepted with the Iron Tail in the knick of time and cancelled Glaceon's attack as well as losing her balance.

May and Glaceon was surprised by their comeback, unfortunately, for Glaceon, her surprise was going to be painful as Buneary wasn't done with her Dizzy Punch attack as her frozen ear glowed brightly and delivered a powerful hook to the cheeks.

"GLAE!!!" The force of that Dizzy Punch was so powerful that it sent Glaceon flying back towards her trainer's side of the field, well she had to thank that Ice Beam attack that it increased the power of Dizzy Punch as well as shattering the ice and freeing her ear.

"Quick, use Ice Beam Glaceon!" Dawn immediately followed up an attack as Buneary leapt up and shot an Ice Beam attack towards the still disoriented Glaceon.

"GLAE!" The ice-type shrieked in pain as Ice Beam struck her legs, freezing it solid and completely immobilizing her movement.

"Another Ice Beam!" Dawn shouted as another Ice Beam was coming right towards Glaceon, who looked as if defeat was coming very near.

"MIRROR COAT!" Glaceon heard her trainer's voice in the midst of the pain her cheek was having as her body glowed brightly before Ice Beam made contact.

Glaceon endured the Ice Beam for as long as she can and finally managed to return it with double the power as Dawn and Buneary were stunned by the incoming Ice Beam and making contact with Buneary.

"BUN!" She screamed in pain and fell helplessly to the ground, few parts of her body were frozen solid and was motionless.

"Buneary is unable to battle, May and her Glaceon proceeds to the semi-finals!" The referee inspected Buneary's condition and declared she was unable to continue any longer and raised his flag towards May as the crowd roared loudly for the wonderful match.

Dawn ran towards her defeated pokemon and carried her into her warm and caring arms and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you Buneary." She said and kissed her forehead as Buneary cooed in affection and gave one last look at her opponent, although she was very angry by the fact that she lost against her rival, it was still a good match and promised herself to train harder, and then she closed her eyes to rest as Dawn brought out her pokeball and recalled her.

Glaceon, on the other hand, was relieved that the match was finally over and lied her face down on the ground, exhausted. May lifted her up and into her arms and hugged her tightly for a wonderful performance from her today.

"You did great Glaceon, I'm so proud of you." She praised her and continued hugging her as Glaceon returned the affection. But deep in her mind, she was lucky that she won, if she didn't hear her trainer call out an attack, the result would be different.

"That was a great battle May, but we'll win next time we battle again." Dawn said as she approached the brunette coordinator and raised her hand towards May.

"That's the spirit Dawn! Now it's the guys turn to fight." May shook her hand and stood up as they left the stage.

------------------------

"Now for the second battle of the day between Luke and Mary. Don't leave your seats folks as this battle is about to get under way!" Cid announced the crowd roared with more excitement than ever as the silver-haired man was standing from one side with his arms crossed while the black-haired girl was on the other side, feeling distracted from the match.

"Are the trainers ready to battle?" The referee asked.

"Gallade, come on out." Luke flatly said as a beam of light came from his pocket and revealed the psychic-fighting type as it waved its arms and did its battle stance.

Mary said nothing but threw a pokeball to the air, revealing her Gardevoir to the field, also wasn't feeling easy in this battle.

_At the stands…_

"This will be interesting. A fight between the sexes, you don't get to see that everyday." Brock said and crossed his arms.

"I'm concerned on how Mary will do; she's been acting different since breakfast." May replied.

_Back to the battle…_

"Let's begin!" Seeing that the two trainers chose their pokemon, the referee waved the flag down, signaling the start of the battle.

"Gallade, Night Slash." Wasting no time, Luke called out the first attack. Gallade darted from his position as his blade-like arms glowed brightly purple and charged in towards his opponent.

"Darn it Gardevoir we have to fight, Thunderbolt now!" Mary said to her pokemon telepathically, setting her feelings aside while clenching her fists.

"But…" The psychic type refused to attack, she wouldn't dare hurt the one she's been caring about for a very long time.

"This is a battle Gardevoir, do as I say! Thunderbolt now!" Mary angrily called out to her. Seeing that she can't do anything but fight, Gardevoir released a Thunderbolt towards her opponent.

Gallade quickly leapt away from the incoming Thunderbolt and was now at melee range for Night Slash.

"Gardevoir, Detect!" The psychic-type's eyes glowed brightly, and in instant, she dodged Gallade's attack by sidestepping then levitated to the air.

"Now Magical Leaf!" Gardevoir's eyes glowed brightly green as her white, silky gown waved rapidly as curved glowing leaves were summoned and darted towards Gallade.

"Leaf Blade, then Mach Punch!" Luke called out as Gallade's arms glowed similarly with Gardevoir's eyes and began slicing at the incoming Magical Leaf attack, cutting every nearby leaf in half. As soon as the last leaf was cut in half, he quickly leapt and clenched his hand as it glowed brightly and hit Gardevoir in the stomach.

But upon the contact, Gallade felt as if time stopped for a moment, as a sudden surge of faint images began flowing through his mind.

He concentrated to make those images get out of his head, but…

"_Hey, when we grow up, we're going to be a couple okay?" He started to see two identical silhouettes sitting together near a lake. One of them spoke girlishly to the other._

"_Oh… okay…" The other one replied with a deeper tone; he concentrated deeper as the silhouettes turned into two Ralts._

"_Promise?" The girl raised her hand and put out her pinky finger._

"_Promise." The boy smiled and touched her pinky finger with his._

"Gardevoir, are you okay?" Mary called out to the injured Gardevoir who were grasping her stomach.

"Yeah, I'm fine but…" Gardevoir replied but focused her attention on Gallade, who seemed to stay levitating in air and grasping his head, eyes closed and seemed to be disoriented or something. Gardevoir tried to read through his mind, and immediately, her eyes widened in surprise which was followed with a smile of relief.

"Now I understand…" Gardevoir sighed and quickly darted towards Gallade, pulled his hands down from his head with her hands, then placed her hands on the back of his head, pulled him towards her and gave him something that everyone wasn't expecting.

"Holy cow, is that a Sweet Kiss attack?" Cid and the rest of the audience were shocked as the big screen zoomed in close to their faces and saw their lips locked with each other.

"I don't know, it looks like an actual kiss to me." Dawn said.

"Oh, that's so romantic!" May, however, was looking happy.

"No fair, am I the only one who cannot find love?" Brock suddenly cried in his seat.

Mary suddenly realized something, and quickly turned her attention towards her opponent. Luke was motionless like Gallade, as if he was in another world.

"Wait a minute; I think I know what's going on…But -" Mary said to herself but stopped as images were now flooding in her mind. Was Gardevoir trying to transmit the memories she found from Gallade to her? She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate…

------------------------------

_Mary found herself above a nearby road; she seemed to be floating above. She scanned the environment and noticed two figures; one was on the road while the other one seemed to be running towards it._

"_RALTS! GET OUT OF THE WAY!" The running figure shouted as Mary took closer inspection of the figure. It was a boy with silver-hair; it was then she realized that it was Luke when he was little. She then stared at the other figure he called Ralts… she felt like she saw that pokemon before._

_Then her eyes caught sight of an incoming car, coming straight towards the Ralts who looked as if it didn't notice anything._

"_RALTS, TELEPORT NOW!" The boy shouted and hurriedly ran towards the road. The pokemon, on the other hand, didn't seem to hear him shout._

_Mary's eyes and mouth opened in surprise, the two were about to get hit by the car._

"_LUKE!" She shouted hard, but he didn't hear anything and continued to run towards the Ralts. _

_She covered her eyes when the car was about to hit the two; Ralts was just stunned when it finally noticed the car about to hit it, but the boy managed to leap and push the Ralts away safely. But… unfortunately for him, his body was caught and he was sent flying and hit the road pretty hard as the car skidded to a stop._

"_LUKE, NO!!!" She shouted and began to cry towards the motionless boy, his head was cut and blood was flowing on his face. He seemed to be dead in her eyes while Ralts just stood in its place, completely shocked by what just happened, and staring at its master covered in blood, it became too much for it to bear as it lost consciousness and fell on the ground._

--------------------------

Mary suddenly woke up from her trance while Luke snapped out as well. The audience was quiet on what was happening on the stage, staring at the two pokemon as Gardevoir released the kiss. Now she understood why, as well as her trainer.

"Now I remember everything…" Luke said to himself and smiled.

"Uhh… Is everything okay right there?" The announcer suddenly asked.

"Ohh… yeah. Sorry about that…" He replied, then stared at Mary's pokemon and smiled.

'Mary, Luke said we should finish this battle first… and he said thank you.' Gardevoir transmitted the message he received telepathically from Luke to her trainer.

Mary smiled in relief. And after a deep breath…

'Gardevoir let's go! Thunderbolt!' She suddenly called out an attack telepathically as Gardevoir grasped her opponent's shoulders and charged up electricity, shocking Gallade's body and kicked him away from her.

"Night Slash!" Luke smirked and called out as Gallade's blade-like arms glowed brightly purple and swing it towards Gardevoir.

'Use Detect!' Immediately, the psychic-type's eyes glowed brightly and moved out of Night Slash's range easily.

'YEAH! I feel refreshed after that kiss!" Gardevoir said happily while stretching her limbs and levitated around her opponent.

"Mach Punch!" Gallade quickly darted from his place and right next to the unsuspecting Gardevoir as the two made eye contact. Gallade smirked at her before delivering the Mach Punch to her stomach again and sent her falling towards the ground.

'Get back up and use Focus Blast!' Mary said as Gardevoir regained her balance and soared right back up to the air, her hands charging up a bright ball of energy and threw it towards Gallade.

"Psycho Cut!" Gallade charged up his arms, enveloping it with a bright pink aura and released it in the form of a crescent wave, intercepting the Focus Blast attack as a huge explosion was created upon impact, covering the air with thick smoke.

As the explosion quickly subsided, Gardevoir was gone from their sight. Gallade looked left and right, but his opponent wasn't there. But when he looked up, he was greeted by a powerful Thunderbolt from above.

'Focus Blast, quick!' Gardevoir stopped the Thunderbolt attack and charged right in with her hands charging up a Focus Blast attack and struck the disoriented Gallade at close range which sent him falling towards the ground.

"Retaliate with Mach Punch!" Gallade regained his balance and stepped on the floor with his legs, and then jumped towards Gardevoir at a very fast rate, then connected a Mach Punch to her stomach again, but this time, it hurts a lot worse than the last one.

"Night Slash!" The pain didn't stop there as Gallade connected with a Night Slash from his blade-like arm on her head. Now it was her who was falling towards the ground.

'Gardevoir, get up!' Mary called out to Gardevoir as it managed to levitate safely before hitting the ground, holding her now painful head.

'Good. Try to kite him with Magical Leaf!' Mary said telepathically as Gardevoir circled around Gallade, away from his reach while summoning barrages of glowing curved leaves.

"Mach Punch!" Gallade closed in towards Gardevoir while cutting any nearby leaves with his blades.

'Detect!' Gardevoir's eyes glowed and quickly evaded the Mach Punch attack and away from Gallade.

"Don't let her get away! Psycho Cut!" Luke called out as Gallade's arms became enveloped with a bright pink aura and released a powerful wave from his right arm in front of Gardevoir, who barely dodged it, as it rippled the ground in front of her. Then, another wave rippled the ground behind her, trapping her in place.

"Mach Punch, then convert it to Night Slash!" Gallade charged in towards Gardevoir as their faces were now only an inch apart from making contact. He smiled at her before delivering the final blow to the head, sending her crashing down the ground.

The air was silent as the audience looked at the smoke covered stage. As it settled, they could all see the outcome of the match. Gallade was standing beside a fallen Gardevoir, motionless and covered with dirt, her body partially buried in the ground.

"Gardevoir is unable to battle, Luke and Gallade are the winners!" The referee announced the victor of this match and raised his flag towards the silver-haired trainer who doesn't seem to be too happy about it.

He immediately went towards his opponent's side; his Gallade knelt down and lifted Gardevoir with his arms. The two pairs of ruby eyes met and stared at each other for a while, and then she suddenly placed her arm around his neck and pulled him in for a sweet, tender kiss.

"Awww…" The whole audience was moved with the sweet affection the two was sharing with each other.

"Heh, looks like those two really missed each other." Luke said to Mary as the two were close with each other. He gave a smile to her and then stared at the two still locking lips with each other.

Then, suddenly, Mary raised her hand to Luke's forehead, moved his bangs away that was covering his forehead. Upon closer inspection, she saw a small scar that must be the same one she saw back in his memories.

"I'm sorry…" Mary began to cry, knowing that he had gone through a very traumatic experience in his life that she didn't know until now.

"…Hmm? Why are you sorry crying about? I should be thanking you two for bringing back my memories. Now I know how I got this scar." Luke comforted and placed his hand on her shoulder. Mary looked at his eyes for a bit and then gave a big hug.

"I really miss you Luke, I do… Why did you have to run away?" Mary continued to cry on his chest, while Luke slowly placed his arms around her back.

"I'll answer everything back at home, but now, let's go back to the stands. This is really kinda embarrassing at the moment…" Luke said with a chuckle. Then, he pulled out a pokeball from his pocket and aimed it towards his pokemon.

'I think Gallade and I have a lot of catching up to do…' Gardevoir said and suddenly, the two teleported away, leaving the two dumbfounded.

"And we have a lot of catching up to do ourselves..."

---------------------------

"This is a battle between Paul from Veilstone City and Ash from Pallet Town, this match has no time-limit and will end when either side can no longer continue to battle. Are the trainers ready?"

"Electabuzz, stand by for battle!" The lavender-haired trainer threw a pokeball to the air, revealing his electric-type pokemon to the field.

"Pikachu, it's up to you buddy. Let's show Paul how strong we've got." Ash said to his pokemon on his shoulder and leapt towards the field, staring at his opponent intently.

"Let the battle begin!"

"Pikachu Quick Attack!" Ash was the first to call out an attack as Pikachu darted from his position and quickly towards Electabuzz.

"Use Protect!" Electabuzz raised its arms sideways as a light green barrier quickly acting as a shield before Quick Attack hit it, but was easily bounced off by Protect.

"Now use Brick Break!" Electabuzz stopped using Protect as the green barrier quickly vanished; he charged up its open palm and leapt towards Pikachu.

"Iron Tail!" Pikachu charged up his tail as it glowed brightly and intercepted with Brick Break. The two attacks were equal in power and leapt away from each other.

Suddenly, Pikachu felt something weird on his tail and stared at it, he tried to move it but it doesn't seem to be moving at full range of motion.

"Pikachu, everything okay?" Ash called out to Pikachu but his pokemon quickly shook his head and stared right back at the match. Pikachu can't just tell him something was wrong in this very important match between the two rivals.

"Quick Attack!" Again, Pikachu charged in towards Electabuzz but Paul smirked at Ash's futile attempt to even damage his pokemon.

"Thunderpunch." Electabuzz charged his fist as it became enveloped with electricity and thrust it toward Pikachu, but managed to dodge the attack as it jumped towards the air.

"Now use Iron Tail!" Pikachu gritted his teeth upon hearing that, but he had to do it. He charged up his tail again and made a diving somersault towards Electabuzz.

"Brick Break again!" Paul ordered as Electabuzz intercepted the Iron Tail attack with a powerful chop.

"PIKA!" Suddenly, Pikachu screamed so loud that it took everyone by surprise, even Paul and Electabuzz. Pikachu fell on the ground helplessly as Electabuzz backed away, shocked on what just happened. Then, the huge screen then zoomed in to what seems to be the cause to Pikachu's sudden pain.

"Oh no…" Brock said to himself as everyone stared at Pikachu's tail, it doesn't look the same, usual zigzag tail pointing straight, but… it was bent and Pikachu couldn't move it.

"Pikachu, no!" Ash ran towards Pikachu, who was lying helplessly on the ground, and saw his broken tail and was afraid to pick him up.

"Pikachu cannot continue, therefore this round goes to Paul." The referee quickly announced and went towards the injured pokemon followed by Nurse Joy and a pair of Chanseys with a stretcher.

Electabuzz slowly tried to come near Pikachu, but-

"Stay away from Pikachu!" Ash suddenly shouted to Electabuzz who was completely shocked by his sudden, violent reaction. Then, Electabuzz was recalled by his trainer and approached his opponent.

"I assure you, this wasn't intentional…" Paul said flatly before leaving the stage. The audience was quiet and stunned by the sudden turn of events.

"Pikachu, come on, speak to me buddy…" Ash spoke to his pokemon, which was then picked up from his hands by Nurse Joy and placed on the stretchers.

"Hey, what the hell do you think you're doing to my Pikachu?!" Ash suddenly shouted out of rage seeing Pikachu being taken out of his hands. The referee along with some Chanseys blocked his path and tried to restrain him.

"Sir, please calm down. Your Pikachu will be taken to the Pokemon Center right away!" The referee replied and placed his hands firmly on his shoulders, and then Ash slowly calmed down and started crying.

"…Pikachu."

_to be continued…_

------------------------

**The day was going smoothly for the gang but a sudden turn of events that turned the excitement into a shocking, traumatizing experience to everyone. Will Pikachu be able to recover? **

**Stay tuned.**


End file.
